Rhode Island Voluntary Informal Administration

General information, not legal advice. Rhode Island probate is handled city and town by city and town, so forms and practice vary locally. Confirm with the probate court where the decedent resided.

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What counts against $15,000

Section 33-24-1 applies where a Rhode Island resident dies leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property whose total value, of the kind otherwise subject to being listed on a probate inventory, exclusive of tangible personal property the decedent owned, does not exceed $15,000. Parse that carefully, because the exclusion does real work: the bank accounts and similar intangibles are measured, while the contents of the house are not. As everywhere, assets that never enter probate stay out too, so survivorship property, beneficiary-designated accounts, life insurance and trust property are outside the calculation entirely.

The affiant has to live here

Rhode Island attaches a residency condition that few states impose, and it catches families whose children have moved away. The statute lists who may petition, a surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, or any interested party, but adds that the person must be of full age and legal capacity and a resident of this state. A daughter in Boston cannot serve as voluntary administrator for her mother's Providence estate on that basis alone, though a Rhode Island relative or interested party can. Sort out who will sign before preparing anything, since the residency point is not one the court will overlook.

Filed with the city or town court

Probate in Rhode Island is local in a way most states are not: each city and town runs its own probate court, so you file with the court of the municipality where the decedent resided, on a form prescribed by that court. You may file after thirty days have elapsed from the death, and only if no petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration has been filed there. Signing has two stages: the affiant and any co-affiants sign before a notary who affixes a seal, and then a probate judge and clerk sign to approve the filing formally. Fees are modest, in the region of thirty dollars for the initial filing plus a small amount for the appointment.

When a will names an executor

Section 33-24-2 runs a parallel track for testate estates. Where the same $15,000 conditions are met and the decedent left a will naming an executor, that named person may petition as Voluntary Informal Executor on form PC-1.9, filing the original will and codicils with the petition. If the named executor declines or cannot serve, an alternate named in the will may step in, and failing that the same list of relatives or any interested party. The petition attaches a schedule of all assets owned at the date of death with their values, confirms the assets are personal property only and within the limit, and identifies both who would inherit under intestacy and who takes under the will.

Written by the Trámites Notariales US editorial team, based on R.I.G.L. 33-24-1 and 33-24-2 and Rhode Island probate forms. City and town practice varies; confirm locally.