Rhode Island probate laws route every estate through the municipal probate court in the city or town where the decedent lived. That local court supervises the executor or administrator, approves creditor payments, clears estate tax liens on real property, and signs off before anything is distributed to heirs. The process is governed by Title 33 of the Rhode Island General Laws, and the same framework applies whether or not there is a will.
When Probate Is Required
Most estates go through formal probate, but Rhode Island offers a shortcut for small ones. Voluntary informal administration is available when the estate holds no real estate and the total value of items that would otherwise appear on a probate inventory is $15,000 or less. Clothing and household goods the decedent owned don’t count toward that cap. Instead of filing a full petition, the person handling the estate files a verified statement with the probate court.1Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-24 Section 33-24-1 – Voluntary Informal Administration of Small Estates
The threshold is strict. Any interest in real property, even a partial one, pulls the estate out of the informal track and into full administration.
For a will to be admitted at all, the testator must have been at least 18 and of sound mind, the will must be in writing and signed, and two competent witnesses must have signed it.2Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-5 Section 33-5-23Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-5 Section 33-5-5 – Execution of Wills Rhode Island does not accept handwritten, unwitnessed wills from its own residents, though it may recognize a will validly executed under another state’s law.
Opening the Estate
The petition to open probate is filed under oath in the court for the decedent’s city or town of domicile. It must include the petitioner’s name and address, the decedent’s domicile, and the names and addresses of all known surviving spouses and heirs. If there’s a will, the beneficiaries are listed. When no heirs can be found, the petitioner files a separate affidavit describing the search.4Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Section 33-22-2 – Petition Contents
Two forms of notice have to run before the hearing. Written notice goes by mail to every interested party at least 10 days ahead of the hearing, or three weeks ahead for anyone living outside the continental United States.5Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-22 Section 33-22-3 – Notice Given by Petitioner on Filing of Petition and Hearing A newspaper notice must also run once a week for at least two weeks, with the first publication appearing at least 14 days before the hearing.6Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Section 33-22-11 – Notice by Advertisement
If nobody objects, the court opens the estate and grants authority to the executor named in the will or, if there’s no will, an administrator it appoints. When a will is challenged on grounds like undue influence, fraud, or lack of capacity, the burden falls on the person contesting it. If the challenge succeeds, the estate is administered under the intestacy statutes instead.
Anyone holding the original will has 30 days from learning of the death to deliver it to the probate court or the named executor. Ignoring that duty can result in contempt, including commitment to a correctional facility, plus personal liability for any financial harm the delay caused.7Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-7 Section 33-7-5 – Duty of Person in Possession of Will to Deliver Into Court
What the Executor Has to Do
Post a Bond
Before taking any action, the executor or administrator posts a bond with the probate court. The bond protects beneficiaries and creditors against mismanagement, and the court sets the amount based on the size of the estate. A will can waive the requirement, and the statute allows other limited exceptions.8Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Section 33-17-1 – Bond Requirement
File the Inventory Within 90 Days
Within 90 days of appointment, the executor files a sworn inventory of all personal property: bank accounts, investments, claims, causes of action, and everything else, each item appraised at its date-of-death value. Real property is not on this list.9Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Section 33-9-1 – Inventory of Personal Property The court can extend the deadline on petition, but executors who blow past 90 days without asking should expect pushback.
From that point forward, the executor safeguards assets, keeps property insured, pays property taxes, and manages any income the estate produces. Real estate sales may require court approval. Every transaction gets documented because a final accounting will be reviewed before the estate can close.
Notify Health and Human Services
If the decedent was 55 or older, the executor must mail notice of the estate’s opening to the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services so the state can assert any Medicaid recovery claim. An affidavit confirming the notice was sent gets filed with the probate court, and the estate can’t close without it. When the decedent was under 55 and had no known creditors, the affidavit says so instead.10Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Section 33-11-5.2 – Fiduciary Affidavit Regarding Notice to Creditors and OHHS
Get Paid
There’s no fixed fee schedule. The court allows “such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just.”11Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-14 Section 33-14-8 – Compensation of Executors and Administrators The executor proposes a fee in the final accounting and the court decides whether it’s reasonable given the size and complexity of the estate. Executors who also serve as attorneys for the estate can collect both an executor’s fee and legal fees, but the total gets scrutinized.
The executor owes a fiduciary duty. Self-dealing, commingling estate funds with personal accounts, or favoring some heirs over others can lead to personal liability, removal, or both.
Estate Tax and the Real Property Lien
Rhode Island imposes its own estate tax on top of any federal tax. For deaths in 2026, the exemption threshold is $1,838,056. Estates below that owe nothing. Above it, rates start at 0.8% on the first $40,000 of taxable value and climb to a top rate of 16%.12RI Division of Taxation. ADV 2025-27 – Rhode Island Estate Tax Credit and Threshold Set for 2026 The return is Form RI-706.
Here is the trap. A statutory lien attaches automatically to every piece of real estate the decedent owned at death, and it stays there until an estate tax return is filed and any tax and fees are paid.13RI Division of Taxation. Estate Tax Estates well below the exemption threshold still have to file a simplified RI-706, along with Form T-77 requesting a discharge of the lien on a specific property.14RI Division of Taxation. Form T-77 – Discharge of Estate Tax Lien
Until the lien clears, title is clouded. Buyers and title companies won’t close on a sale and refinancing isn’t possible. Families who inherit a house and plan to sell should file the RI-706 and Form T-77 early rather than waiting for a buyer.
Creditor Claims and Payment Priority
Creditors have six months from the first newspaper publication to file claims. Anything filed after that is permanently barred, with narrow exceptions.15Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Section 33-11-5 – Time Allowed for Presenting Claims Known creditors get direct mail notice, and the executor reviews each claim before paying.
If the estate can’t cover everything, Rhode Island sets a strict priority. After administration costs and family set-asides come off the top, debts are paid in this order:16Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-12 Section 33-12-11 – Order of Preference of Debts
- Necessary funeral charges
- Necessary expenses of the last illness
- Debts owed to the United States
- Rhode Island state and local taxes
- Past and future child support obligations
- Wages for labor performed within six months before death, up to $1,000 per worker
- Amounts due under the Rhode Island lottery statute
- Other debts filed within six months of the first notice
- All remaining debts
When a class runs out of money, the creditors in that class split what’s available proportionally, and no lower class gets anything. Executors who pay out of order can be held personally liable for the shortfall.
Protections for the Surviving Spouse and Children
Some property is set aside before creditors and beneficiaries get anything. The surviving spouse and minor children keep their own clothing automatically. Beyond that, the probate court can allow furniture, household supplies, and other personal property that’s exempt from creditor attachment, in an amount the court considers necessary.17Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-10 Section 33-10-1 – Wearing Apparel and Exempt Personal Property Allowed to Widow or Widower and Children
The court may also grant a temporary support allowance during the first six months of administration, extendable for a second six months if the application is made within a year of the first publication. If personal property isn’t enough to fund the allowance, the court can order real estate sold to cover it.18Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-10 Section 33-10-3 – Allowances for Temporary Support of Family
When There’s No Will
Rhode Island’s intestacy statutes decide who inherits when a person dies without a valid will, and they also fill any gaps a will leaves open.19Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-1 Section 33-1-12 – Intestate Estate
What the surviving spouse gets depends on whether there are children. With no children, the spouse takes a life estate in the decedent’s real property. The court may also set off up to $150,000 worth of Rhode Island real estate (net of mortgages) to the spouse outright, on top of the life estate, if the property isn’t needed to pay debts. The spouse has to petition for this share within six months of the administrator’s qualification notice.20Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Chapter 260 – Rules of Descent Amendments
When both a spouse and children survive, personal property is generally split between them and the spouse’s share of real property is subject to the life estate rules. Children alone inherit equally. If no immediate family survives, more distant relatives take under the statute. Property escheats to the state only when no eligible heirs exist.
A number of assets skip probate entirely. Jointly owned property with survivorship rights, life insurance with a named beneficiary, and retirement accounts with designated beneficiaries pass outside the estate no matter what the will or intestacy rules say.
Guardians for Minor Children
If a parent dies, the probate court appoints a guardian for any surviving minor children. A guardian named in the will is generally honored unless there’s a compelling reason not to. Without a named guardian, the court weighs candidates and tends to favor close relatives or adults already involved in the child’s life. Any person can file the petition in the court for the city or town where the child lives.21Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-15 Section 33-15-2 – Petition for Appointment of Guardian
The court looks at financial stability, character, and the ability to provide a safe home. Guardians must be at least 18 and free of legal disqualifications. A guardian ad litem may be appointed to represent the child independently in contested cases, and temporary guardians can serve while a permanent arrangement is worked out.
Closing the Estate
Before the estate can close, the executor files a final accounting with the probate court showing every asset collected, every dollar of income, every debt paid, and every distribution made. Beneficiaries can object, and the court holds a hearing if there’s a dispute.22Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Title 33 Chapter 33-14 Section 33-14-1 – Times When Accounts Required
There’s a simpler path when the executor is the sole beneficiary or every beneficiary signs a release. The executor can then file an affidavit of completed administration confirming that Rhode Island estate and inheritance taxes have been paid, the funeral bill has been paid, and every filed claim is resolved. The Secretary of State publishes the relevant probate forms.23Rhode Island Department of State. Probate Forms
The EOHHS creditor affidavit also has to be on file. Once the accounting or affidavit is approved, the court issues a final decree, closing the estate and ending the executor’s authority. Deed transfers and final tax returns should be finished before that point, because an executor who leaves loose ends can face personal liability or removal.