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Voluntary Informal Administration of Small Estates (intest…Verified against the statute July 29, 2026

Rhode Island Small Estate Affidavit

Rhode Island lets the next of kin collect a deceased person’s property without opening probate when the estate is worth $15,000 or less and 30 days have passed since the death. Here is exactly how it works, and how to use it.

Check if you qualifyHow to use it

Rhode Island at a glance

Estate value limit
$15,000
Gross value
Wait after death
30 days
Before the affidavit can be presented
File with a court?
Yes, required
Court approval comes first
Covers real property?
No
Real property needs the court
Notary required?
Yes
Sign in front of a notary
Who can sign
Intestate (§ 33-24-1(a)): the decedent's…
Per the statute

Is your estate under the $15,000 limit?

Enter a rough total of what they owned in their own name alone. Leave out jointly-held accounts and anything with a named beneficiary. Those don’t count.

Nothing you type here is saved or sent anywhere.

The $15,000 limit, and what actually counts

Gross value of personal property only, limited to assets "otherwise subject to being listed on a probate inventory pursuant to § 33-9-1," and expressly exclusive of tangible personal property of which the decedent was owner. So intangibles/liquid assets (bank accounts, final wages, notes, certificates, choses in action) are counted; the decedent's car, furniture, jewelry and other tangible chattels are not counted toward the $15,000 even though the voluntary administrator may still collect and sell them. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, any solely-owned real estate defeats the procedure. Non-probate assets (joint tenancy, POD/TOD, beneficiary-designated life insurance and retirement accounts, trust assets) are not "listed on a probate inventory" and therefore do not count.

What doesn't count toward the limit

This is where most people wrongly rule themselves out. In Rhode Island, these are left out of the calculation:

  • Jointly-held property with right of survivorship
  • Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts
  • Life insurance with a living named beneficiary
  • Retirement accounts with a living named beneficiary
  • Property already held in a trust
  • Real property

The 30-day waiting period

30 days, counted from the date of death of the decedent, not from any filing or notice. Cited in the body of § 33-24-1(a) (intestate) and § 33-24-2(a) (testate), which are unlettered/undivided on this point: 'may, after the expiration of thirty (30) days from the death of the decedent, provided no petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration has been filed with the probate court of the city or town in which the decedent resided, file with said probate court..'. The 30-day clock and the 'no competing petition' condition are cumulative, both must be satisfied at the moment of filing. There is no separate publication or creditor-notice waiting period built into chapter 33-24.

Who can sign the affidavit

Intestate (§ 33-24-1(a)): the decedent's surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, "or any interested party": who must be of full age, of legal capacity, and a resident of Rhode Island. Testate (§ 33-24-2(a)): the person named as executor in the will if of full age and legal capacity; if that person declines or cannot serve, any named alternate; if the alternate declines or cannot serve, then the surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, or any interested party of full age, legal capacity and RI residency. A named executor who resides outside Rhode Island must appoint a resident agent to represent him or her in the state (§ 33-24-2(b)). The statement must be "verified by oath or affirmation."

Either, but through two different sections. This is the single most common RI drafting error. Intestate (no will): § 33-24-1, appointment as 'voluntary administrator'; the statement lists the persons who would take under § 33-1-10. Testate (will exists): § 33-24-2, appointment as 'voluntary executor'; the affiant is the executor named in the will (or alternate, or, if they decline/cannot serve, the same family/interested-party list). Under § 33-24-2(b) the original of the will must be filed with the verified statement, the will is lodged with the probate court as part of the small-estate filing itself; there is no separate prior probate-of-will proceeding, and no formal admission of the will to probate occurs. The § 33-24-2 statement must additionally list both the § 33-1-10 intestate takers (subsection (a)(6)) and the persons who would take under the will (subsection (a)(7)). Distribution under § 33-24-2(f) follows the terms of the will, and only 'should that prove impossible' falls back to the surviving spouse / § 33-1-10 takers.

The affidavit must be signed in front of a notary. Most banks and UPS Stores have a notary; many charge under $15.

Can it transfer a house or land in Rhode Island?

No real property may pass under this procedure, and Rhode Island has no companion small-estate real-property affidavit, no small-estate 'petition to determine succession to real property,' and no separate real-property threshold. Both § 33-24-1 and § 33-24-2 are limited on their face to an estate 'consisting entirely of personal property'; neither section contains any sentence mentioning real estate or real property. Consequence: if the decedent owned any solely-titled real estate in Rhode Island, chapter 33-24 is unavailable in its entirety: even if the personal property is under $15,000, and a regular probate (letters testamentary or letters of administration under Title 33, chs. 33-7, 33-8, 33-22) must be opened in the municipal probate court of the decedent's city or town. Rhode Island title practice: legal title to real estate descends to heirs/devisees at death by operation of law (Title 33, ch. 33-1 Rules of Descent), but the estate remains subject to administration and creditor claims, and RI conveyancing/title-insurance practice requires a probate record (or a recorded decree/notice of appointment and, where applicable, a probate sale or license to sell) to establish marketable title. Real estate held as joint tenancy with right of survivorship, tenancy by the entirety, or in a revocable trust passes outside probate and outside chapter 33-24 entirely. Rhode Island does not have a transfer-on-death deed / beneficiary deed statute.

How to use a small estate affidavit in Rhode Island

  1. 1

    Confirm you're under the limit and past the wait

    Add up the property that passes through the estate and check it against the $15,000 ceiling. Gross value of personal property only, limited to assets "otherwise subject to being listed on a probate inventory pursuant to § 33-9-1," and expressly exclusive of tangible personal property of which the decedent was owner. So intangibles/liquid assets (bank accounts, final wages, notes, certificates, choses in action) are counted; the decedent's car, furniture, jewelry and other tangible chattels are not counted toward the $15,000 even though the voluntary administrator may still collect and sell them. The estate must consist entirely of personal property, any solely-owned real estate defeats the procedure. Non-probate assets (joint tenancy, POD/TOD, beneficiary-designated life insurance and retirement accounts, trust assets) are not "listed on a probate inventory" and therefore do not count.

  2. 2

    Gather the documents

    You'll need certified copies of the death certificate: order at least three, since institutions often keep one: plus account numbers, the vehicle title or VIN, and the names and addresses of every heir.

  3. 3

    Complete the affidavit

    Fill in Voluntary Informal Administration of Small Estates (intestate: "voluntary administrator," R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1; testate: "voluntary executor," § 33-24-2), listing the decedent, the heirs and their relationships, the assets and their values, and the known debts.

  4. 4

    Sign it in front of a notary

    Sign in front of a notary public. Banks, credit unions and shipping stores all offer notarization, usually for a small fee.

  5. 5

    File it with the probate court

    Filing is mandatory. This is not a pure out-of-court affidavit and must not be marketed as one. The verified statement is filed with the probate court of the city or town in which the decedent resided. Rhode Island probate courts are municipal courts (each of the 39 cities and towns runs its own; they are not part of the unified state Judiciary), so local practice, form layout, and counter procedures vary by municipality. Procedure per § 33-24-1(c)/§ 33-24-2(c): the applicant presents the verified statement 'upon a form prescribed by the court,' accompanied by a certificate of death of the deceased, and pays a filing fee of thirty dollars ($30.00); the clerk files these as part of the permanent record of the court. Upon payment of an additional five dollars ($5.00), and if no other probate proceeding for administration of the estate is pending in that court, the clerk shall issue a certification of appointment of voluntary administrator (or of executor, under § 33-24-2), but only after the certification has been reviewed by the judge of the probate court. No hearing is required as a condition of issuance; however, the probate judge MAY require a hearing to determine whether the certification should issue. What issues is a clerk-issued certification of appointment (functionally the small-estate analogue of letters), not a judicial decree or order on the merits. That certification, not the affidavit itself, is what the bank, employer or DMV is shown. In testate cases the original will must be filed with the statement (§ 33-24-2(b)). Statutory fees are $30 + $5 = $35; municipalities may add copy/certification charges, and some (e.g., Providence) publish their own fee schedules, verify locally. Providence Probate Court, for example, publishes a 'Petition for Voluntary Informal Administrator' and a 'Petition for Voluntary Informal Executor' plus a link to 'All State of RI Probate Forms.'

  6. 6

    Present it to whoever holds the property

    § 33-24-1(d) / § 33-24-2(d) set out the collection mechanic and the payor safe harbor. Trigger (three things must be presented together): (1) a copy of the certification of appointment issued by the clerk of the probate court, (2) tender of a proper receipt in writing, and (3) surrender of any policy, passbook, note, certificate or other evidentiary instrument. On that presentation the voluntary administrator/executor 'may, as the legal representative of the deceased and his or her estate, receive payment of any debt or obligation in the nature of a debt, or delivery of any chattel or asset, scheduled in such statement.' Scope limit: only assets actually listed on the filed schedule may be collected, an unlisted account is outside the certification. Safe harbor: 'Payments and deliveries made under this section shall discharge the liability of the debtor, obligor or deliverer to all persons with respect to such debt, chattel, obligation or other asset unless, at the time of such payment or delivery, a written demand has been made upon such debtor, obligor or deliverer by a duly appointed executor or administrator.' Note what the statute does not do: unlike many UPC states, chapter 33-24 does not expressly compel a bank, employer or transfer agent to pay, and provides no penalty, fee-shifting, or cause of action against a refusing institution. The discharge is protective, not mandatory. Also note the statutory hook is the court-issued certification, so RI institutions correctly refuse a bare unfiled affidavit, the filing must go through the municipal probate court first. RI DMV expressly recognizes the chapter 33-24 voluntary-fiduciary certification obtained from City/Town Hall as an acceptable authority for a death transfer.

Where to take the signed affidavit

The bank

§ 33-24-1(d) / § 33-24-2(d) set out the collection mechanic and the payor safe harbor. Trigger (three things must be presented together): (1) a copy of the certification of appointment issued by the clerk of the probate court, (2) tender of a proper receipt in writing, and (3) surrender of any policy, passbook, note, certificate or other evidentiary instrument. On that presentation the voluntary administrator/executor 'may, as the legal representative of the deceased and his or her estate, receive payment of any debt or obligation in the nature of a debt, or delivery of any chattel or asset, scheduled in such statement.' Scope limit: only assets actually listed on the filed schedule may be collected, an unlisted account is outside the certification. Safe harbor: 'Payments and deliveries made under this section shall discharge the liability of the debtor, obligor or deliverer to all persons with respect to such debt, chattel, obligation or other asset unless, at the time of such payment or delivery, a written demand has been made upon such debtor, obligor or deliverer by a duly appointed executor or administrator.' Note what the statute does not do: unlike many UPC states, chapter 33-24 does not expressly compel a bank, employer or transfer agent to pay, and provides no penalty, fee-shifting, or cause of action against a refusing institution. The discharge is protective, not mandatory. Also note the statutory hook is the court-issued certification, so RI institutions correctly refuse a bare unfiled affidavit, the filing must go through the municipal probate court first. RI DMV expressly recognizes the chapter 33-24 voluntary-fiduciary certification obtained from City/Town Hall as an acceptable authority for a death transfer.

The DMV

Agency: Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles (RI DMV). Statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-3.1-37 (Passage of title upon death of owner): 'Unless otherwise provided in the last will and testament of a decedent, any motor vehicle(s) owned by the decedent shall belong, and title to them shall pass, to the surviving spouse.' This is a true operation-of-law transfer with no dollar threshold and no probate: the DMV administrator registers the vehicle in the surviving spouse's name on presentation of (i) a certified copy of the death certificate and (ii) the deceased spouse's registration(s); no fee is charged for the new certificate of title, and no registration fee is charged for the year if the decedent had already registered and paid for that year (a pro rata fee applies if not). History: P.L. 1972, ch. 98, § 1; P.L. 1985, ch. 285, § 1; P.L. 2010, ch. 239, § 27. Non-spouse paths (per RI DMV 'Transfer at Death' guidance): (a) if an executor/administrator has been appointed, the original Notice of Appointment from the probate court (DMV accepts no substitute) and the fiduciary signs as seller; (b) if no executor and the claimant is next of kin / adult child, or the parents where there is no spouse or executor, the DMV 'Sole heir affidavit' (no separate form number published; PDF at https://dmv.ri.gov/media/431/download?language=en, listed under Registration Forms) plus the original death certificate, and DMV states no probate paperwork is required; (c) if there are no survivors and no executor, a voluntary executor/administrator certification under chapter 33-24 obtained from the decedent's City/Town Hall probate court (the DMV page cites this as 'Rigl 33-24.1,' an evident typo for § 33-24-1) plus the original death certificate. All death-transfer scenarios also require the certificate of title in the decedent's name, a Bill of Sale or Letter of Gift (notarization waived for immediate family: parent, step-parent, sibling, step-sibling, spouse, child, step-child), Application for Registration TR-1, and either Sales/Use Tax Exemption Certificate T-333-1 or Sales Tax Form T-334. Note the DMV Sole Heir Affidavit is a DMV administrative document with no statutory dollar cap. It is not a chapter 33-24 instrument and does not adjudicate heirship.

The employer

Final wages and accrued leave can usually be claimed with the same affidavit. Ask their payroll department what they need, most have a standard process.

Debts and your personal liability

§ 33-24-1(f) / § 33-24-2(f): the voluntary administrator/executor shall, as far as possible out of the assets that come into his or her hands, first discharge the necessary expenses of the funeral and last sickness of the deceased and the necessary expenses of administration, expressly 'without fee for his or her services' (no commission is payable to a voluntary administrator). Then pay the debts of the deceased in the order specified in R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-11 and any other debts of the estate, and only then distribute the balance: intestate, to the surviving spouse, or if none, to the persons and in the proportions prescribed by § 33-1-10; testate, according to the terms of the will (falling back to the spouse/§ 33-1-10 takers if that proves impossible). The affiant must schedule 'every asset known to the affiant titled solely in the decedent's name and all assets known or believed to be titled in the decedent's name as of the decedent's date of death and the estimated value of each such asset' (subsection (a)(4)), a broad, knowledge-based disclosure duty; only scheduled assets may be collected under the certification. Affiant liability (subsection (g)): 'A voluntary administrator [executor] shall be liable as an executor in his or her own wrong', i.e., as an executor de son tort: 'to all persons aggrieved by his or her administration of the estate, and, if letters testamentary or letters of administration are at any time granted, shall be liable as such an executor to the rightful executor or administrator.' Practical warning for product copy: distributing to heirs before paying funeral/last-illness expenses and § 33-12-11 priority creditors exposes the affiant to personal liability, and the statement is sworn under oath. § 33-24-1(e)/(2)(e) authorize the voluntary fiduciary to sell any chattel received and to negotiate or assign any chose in action to convert it to cash in a reasonable amount.

When you can’t use it

Rhode Island takes the affidavit route off the table when:

  • Estate does not consist entirely of personal property, any solely-owned real estate (including a house or land) makes § 33-24-1/-2 unavailable; full probate is required
  • Countable personal property (probate-inventory assets, excluding tangible personal property) exceeds $15,000
  • Decedent was not a resident of Rhode Island (statute applies to "a resident of Rhode Island" who dies; the filing goes to the probate court of the city or town in which the decedent resided)
  • Fewer than 30 days have elapsed since the date of death
  • A petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration has already been filed with the probate court of the decedent's city or town
  • Proposed affiant is not of full age, not of legal capacity, or is not a Rhode Island resident (a non-resident named executor may serve under § 33-24-2 only by appointing a RI resident agent)
  • Another probate proceeding for administration of the estate is already pending in that court (clerk may not issue the certification)
  • Testate estate handled under § 33-24-1 instead of § 33-24-2, or failure to file the original will with the statement under § 33-24-2(b)
  • A duly appointed executor or administrator makes written demand on the payor/holder. This cuts off the payor's statutory discharge and effectively ends the voluntary administration route
  • Probate judge exercises discretion to require a hearing and declines to authorize issuance of the certification

If any of those apply, a probate attorney is the right call. A typical small-estate proceeding runs $1,000–$3,000 plus the court’s fee.

Rhode Island small estate affidavit FAQ

Statute and sources

Last verified July 29, 2026. None in the last three years affecting the threshold, waiting period, or scope. § 33-24-1 and § 33-24-2 history lines on the official RI General Assembly code server end at: P.L. 1966, ch. 178, § 1; P.L. 1967, ch. 65, § 1; P.L. 1998, ch. 448, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 484, § 1; P.L. 2005, ch. 389, § 2; P.L. 2011, ch. 363, § 10. The $15,000 figure was set by P.L. 2005, ch. 389, § 2 (raising it from the $10,000 level set in 1999); P.L. 2011, ch. 363, § 10 was the last touch and did not alter the amount, the 30-day period, or the personal-property-only limitation. § 33-24-3 was repealed by P.L. 1998, ch. 448, § 2, effective July 23, 1998 (chapter 33-24 now contains only §§ 33-24-1 and 33-24-2). Currency corroborated: FindLaw's mirror of § 33-24-1 is marked 'Current as of January 01, 2026' and still reads $15,000. Vehicle statute § 31-3.1-37 last amended P.L. 2010, ch. 239, § 27. Separately, RI DMV changed title requirements for model-year-2000-and-older vehicles as of 1/1/2024 (vehicles registered on or after 1/1/2024 need a title; earlier registrations may use other proof of ownership), relevant to death transfers of older cars.

  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 (Voluntary informal administration of small estates)
  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 (Administration of small estates where executor named in will. Voluntary executors)
  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-3 (Repealed by P.L. 1998, ch. 448, § 2, eff. July 23, 1998)
  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1 (probate inventory, defines what counts toward the $15,000)
  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-10 (intestate distribution of personal estate, takers named in the affidavit)
  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-11 (order of payment of debts)
  • R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-3.1-37 (Passage of vehicle title upon death of owner)

What we're less sure about

  • The WebSearch budget for this session was exhausted before the required amendment sweeps ('Rhode Island small estate affidavit limit 2026' / 'threshold increase') could be run. Currency was instead established from the official RI General Assembly code server (history ending P.L. 2011) plus FindLaw's 'Current as of January 01, 2026' mirror. Bills introduced in the January–June 2026 RI General Assembly session were NOT checked; re-verify before shipping, and re-check each session.
  • No single statewide official PDF form could be resolved. RI probate courts are municipal (39 separate courts), so the 'form prescribed by the court' varies; Providence Probate Court's forms page lists 'Petition for Voluntary Informal Administrator' and 'Petition for Voluntary Informal Executor,' but a stable direct PDF permalink was not obtained. The product should route users to the decedent's city/town probate clerk rather than shipping a generic RI form.
  • Local municipal surcharges on top of the statutory $30 filing + $5 certification fees were not verified across all 39 municipalities.
  • The RI DMV Sole Heir Affidavit PDF (https://dmv.ri.gov/media/431/download?language=en) was located in the Registration Forms index but its internal text (attestations, whether it requires notarization, whether it caps value) was not read; no DMV form number is published for it.
  • The interaction between the 'exclusive of tangible personal property' carve-out and how individual RI banks/probate clerks compute the $15,000 in practice was not verified against any court or agency guidance, a conservative UI should warn users that some clerks may count tangibles despite the statutory text.
  • Whether a probate judge's discretionary hearing under § 33-24-1(c)/§ 33-24-2(c) is commonly required in practice (and in which municipalities) was not determined.
  • Whether RI institutions in practice accept the clerk-issued certification for non-bank assets (securities/transfer agents, out-of-state payors) was not verified; § 33-24 contains no compulsion provision.

Kinclaim is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. We provide self-help software and statutory forms.