Rhode Island Probate Court: Which Court Handles the Estate and What Forms You Need

The first mistake most families make after a death in Rhode Island is calling the wrong court. Rhode Island does not have county probate courts. It has 39 of them — one for each city and town in the state — and calling Cranston's probate office when the decedent lived in Warwick will send you in circles on a day when you have zero patience for that.

Here is what you actually need to know: which court has jurisdiction, what forms to file, what those forms cost, and how the process unfolds from petition to close.

Which Probate Court Has Jurisdiction

Rhode Island probate jurisdiction is entirely municipal. The court for the city or town where the decedent lived at the time of death is the one that handles the estate — exclusively. It does not matter where the property is located. It does not matter where you live. What matters is where the decedent was domiciled when they died.

That means if your parent lived in Johnston, you file with the Johnston Probate Court. If they lived in Narragansett, you file with Narragansett's. Each of these 39 courts operates independently, with its own clerk's office, its own meeting schedule, and its own local advertising requirements.

A few examples of how these schedules differ: Johnston Probate Court meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month. South Kingstown meets on the 3rd Thursday. If you show up or call expecting walk-in service at arbitrary times, you may find the office unavailable for your matter. Always confirm the current schedule directly with the local clerk before planning a trip.

The good news: all 39 courts use the same statewide uniform forms, issued by the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office. The procedural rules vary locally, but the paperwork itself is consistent.

Two Tracks: Formal Probate vs. Small Estate

Before you identify which forms to pull, determine which track applies.

Small estate track (forms PC-1.9 or PC-1.10): Available when the estate consists entirely of personal property valued at $15,000 or less in intangible assets, with no real estate involved. You must wait 30 days after the date of death before filing. There is no mandatory newspaper advertising. Filing fees run $34–$39 depending on the municipality. The court issues a Certificate of Appointment, and the voluntary administrator can then collect assets and pay debts without going through full formal probate.

Formal probate (forms PC-1.5 or PC-1.1): Required for any estate that includes real estate, or where personal property exceeds the small estate threshold. This is the path most families end up on. The rest of this article focuses here.

Rhode Island Probate Forms: The Core Set

All forms are available through the Rhode Island Secretary of State's website. The key ones for formal probate:

Opening the estate:

• PC-1.5 — Petition for Probate of Will (when there is a will)
• PC-1.1 — Administration Petition (when there is no will — intestate)
• PC-1.3 — Ancillary Petition (for decedents who lived out of state but owned property in Rhode Island)

The bond:

• PC-3.1A — Universal Appointment Bond, Corporate Surety Exempted (used when the will waives the bond requirement, or all heirs consent to waiving it)
• PC-3.1B — Universal Appointment Bond with Corporate Surety (required when the bond cannot be waived; involves purchasing a commercial surety bond, which carries annual premiums until the estate closes)
• PC-3.4 — Acceptance (signed by the executor or administrator after the bond is posted; this is what formally activates the appointment)

During administration:

• PC-10.13 — Affidavit of Real Property
• PC-10.14 — Affidavit of Notice to Creditors (includes the mandatory notice to EOHHS, Rhode Island's Medicaid agency — this is required regardless of whether you think Medicaid was involved)
• PC-10.6 — Certificate of Devise or Descent (used to transfer real estate out of the estate)
• PC-7.5 — Statement Disallowing Claims

Closing the estate:

• PC-7.3 — Affidavit of Complete Administration (the standard close for amicable estates where beneficiaries agree)
• PC-7.7 — General Releases (signed individually by each beneficiary; required to use PC-7.3)
• PC-7.4 — Application for Approval of Fiduciary's and Attorney's Fees
• PC-7.1 — Account (the formal accounting filed when the estate is contested or complex enough to require judicial approval rather than a simple affidavit close)

Filing Fees: What to Budget

Formal probate fees are governed by R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21. The base fee is 1% of the value of personal property in the estate, with a minimum of $30 and a maximum of $1,500. You pay this upfront based on your initial estimates, and it gets adjusted once you submit the Universal Inventory.

On top of that, each court mandates publication of a legal notice in a local newspaper — this is how creditors are put on notice. The advertising fees vary considerably:

• Providence: approximately $154 total ($30 base + $4 state surcharge + $120 advertising)
• Lincoln: approximately $164 minimum
• Narragansett: approximately $94 total
• North Kingstown: approximately $76 total
• South Kingstown: approximately $84 minimum

Additional line items to expect: document certification costs $3 per certification; copies run $1.50 per page; each Certificate of Appointment is $5. Closing the estate via Affidavit of Complete Administration (PC-7.3) costs approximately $34.

None of these are large individually, but they add up — and they vary enough by municipality that you cannot assume what one town charges is what another will.

How the Formal Probate Process Works

Step 1 — File the petition. You file PC-1.5 (with a will) or PC-1.1 (without) at the local municipal probate court. The clerk schedules a hearing and arranges for publication of the legal notice in a local newspaper. The six-month creditor window starts from the date of first publication.

Step 2 — Post the bond. Before Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration are issued, the executor must post a probate bond under § 33-17-1. If the will explicitly waives the bond, or all heirs consent in writing, you can use PC-3.1A (the exempted bond). Otherwise, you need to purchase a commercial surety bond (PC-3.1B), which carries annual premiums that continue until the estate is formally closed — another reason to close promptly.

Step 3 — Receive the Certificate of Appointment. After the bond is posted and the hearing held, the executor signs the Acceptance (PC-3.4) and receives the Certificate of Appointment. This document is your legal authority. You will present it to banks, brokerage firms, and the DMV to access and retitle assets. Get several certified copies — institutions each want their own.

Step 4 — File the inventory. Within 90 days of appointment, an inventory of all estate assets must be filed with the court.

Step 5 — Handle creditors and taxes. The six-month creditor window runs from first publication. During this time, valid creditor claims must be addressed. For estates above the Rhode Island estate tax threshold, the RI-706 return must be filed within nine months of the date of death.

Step 6 — Close the estate. For most families, this means getting General Releases (PC-7.7) signed by every beneficiary and filing the Affidavit of Complete Administration (PC-7.3). This discharges the fiduciary, terminates any ongoing surety bond premiums, and officially closes the probate. For contested or complex estates, the Account form (PC-7.1) is used instead, and the court reviews and approves the accounting before closing.

Out-of-State Executors: One Extra Requirement

If the person named as executor in the will does not live in Rhode Island, they cannot simply file and proceed. Under RIGL § 33-18-9, a non-resident executor must formally designate a Rhode Island resident to serve as their agent for accepting legal process. This designation must be included in the petition filing itself — it is not optional and it is not something you can add later without amending.

If you are named executor and you live outside Rhode Island, you need to identify a Rhode Island resident (a family member who lives in state, a local attorney, or another trusted contact) and include their information in the petition.

The Piece Most People Get Wrong

The 39-court structure catches people off guard in one specific way: they assume a Rhode Island county court system exists, google "Providence County probate court," get confused by the results, and either call the wrong office or delay filing while trying to figure out where to go.

The answer is always the same: find the city or town where the decedent lived, and contact that municipality's probate court directly. If you are not certain of domicile — for instance, if the decedent moved recently — the test is where they were legally domiciled at the time of death, not where they owned property or spent the most time in their final months.

If you are managing a Rhode Island estate and want step-by-step guidance through each phase — from opening probate to closing it and distributing assets — our Rhode Island Estate Settlement Guide covers the full process, including the creditor notice requirements, the real estate transfer steps, and the tax deadlines that apply to Rhode Island estates.

Quick Reference: Key Deadlines

Rhode Island's probate system is more fragmented than most people expect, but once you understand that it is municipal — not county — and that the statewide forms are consistent across all 39 courts, the process becomes manageable. The variation is in the local scheduling, fees, and advertising requirements. Everything else follows the same statutory framework.

For the full picture of settling a Rhode Island estate from start to finish, see our Rhode Island Estate Settlement Guide.

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