Simplified route
$15,000
Voluntary informal administration of small estates; usable 30 days after death.
Eligibility and caveatsRhode Island estate administration
Rhode Island probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Small-estate limit: $15,000
This guide explains probate in Rhode Island: Rhode Island’s probate courts are municipal rather than a single state court division, but filing fees are statewide statutory: a formal appointment or will-probate petition costs 1% of the decedent’s personal property (min $30, max $1,500) under § 33-22-21, while the narrow voluntary informal small-estate route (§ 33-24-1, or § 33-24-2 where a will names the executor) is a personal-property procedure costing $30 plus a $5 certification.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
Answer first
Rhode Island simplified probate route
Up to $15,000; usable 30 days after death. Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1.
Voluntary informal administration of small estatesScreen a specific Rhode Island estate with the calculators on the small-estate page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
Tiered
2 published schedules, itemised on the filing-cost page.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Court-reviewed
No percentage schedule; the court decides what is reasonable. Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8.
Rhode Island states no percentage schedule: the Probate Court allows the executor or administrator compensation in the account in the amount the court considers just. The cited section does not specify a value base, will override, or separate extraordinary-services rate.
Executors and administrators shall, also, be allowed in their accounts such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8
Creditor deadline
Multiple triggers
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5 (Rhode Island General Assembly; reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsRhode Island decision map
The four facts that change the Rhode Island route
Each Rhode Island answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded Rhode Island answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Voluntary informal administration of small estates |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet. |
| What is the amount screen? | $15,000 |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | 2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total. |
| What does compensation use? | Reasonable compensation set by the court, measured on the estate accounting. |
Limits and unresolved costs
- The code publisher exposes amendment history but no edition-level currentness marker.
- The § 33-24-1 voluntary small-estate route is a separate flat charge ($30 filing plus $5 certification) and is not priced from the § 33-22-21(a) percentage.
Continue
What Rhode Island courts publish
Every link is probed before each release.
- Court resourceRhode Island city and town directoryState of Rhode Island
Use the decedent’s municipality to reach its Probate Court, forms, calendar, and local fee schedule.
Limits on court material
- Rhode Island probate is filed with the city or town Probate Court where the decedent resided, which supplies local filing instructions, but the opening fee is set statewide by statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21 fixes 1% of personal property (min $30, max $1,500) for a formal appointment/probate petition, and § 33-24-1 fixes $30 + $5 for the voluntary small-estate route.
- No statewide judiciary small-estate form returning HTTP 200 was found; the statutory fee itself is the pinned authority.
Rhode Island primary sources
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 — R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1, voluntary informal administration
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8 — R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8, executor compensation
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5 — R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5, time for claims
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21(a) — R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21 — Fees enumerated
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 — R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 — Small estates where executor named in will
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5.1 — R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5.1 — Duty to notify known or reasonably ascertainable creditors
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-9 — R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-9, municipal probate jurisdiction
Every quotation, edition label and machine check is on the Rhode Island source record.
Rhode Island record: 7/7 verified, 21 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction