Small estate affidavit in Rhode Island: who can use it and how

A sworn statement filed with the local probate court when there is no will. After the judge reviews it, the clerk issues a certificate that lets you collect the listed assets.

Limit

Up to $15,000 Counted at full value, without subtracting debts.

The person's personal property, not counting tangible personal property, cannot be worth more than $15,000, and the person cannot have owned real estate.

What counts

Only the person's personal property that would be listed on a probate inventory (such as bank accounts and stocks in the person's sole name), not counting tangible personal property (belongings such as cars, furniture and jewelry). The estate must consist entirely of personal property: the person cannot have owned any real estate.

Waiting period

More than 30 days must have passed since the death, and no petition for letters of administration or probate of a will may have been filed in the probate court of the person's city or town.

Who can use it

The surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, or any interested party, who is an adult with legal capacity and a Rhode Island resident. The person who died must have been a Rhode Island resident.

Court or where to file

Probate court of the city or town where the person lived (each Rhode Island city and town has its own probate court).

Notary

The statement is verified by oath or affirmation; the state probate form is signed before a notary.

Papers to attach

• Certified copy of the death certificate
• Schedule of every asset titled solely in the person's name and its estimated value
• Names and addresses of the people who would inherit under Rhode Island inheritance law

Steps

1. Wait more than 30 days after the death.
2. List every asset in the person's name and its value; check that there is no real estate and the non-tangible personal property is $15,000 or less.
3. Fill in form PC 1.10 and sign it before a notary.
4. File it with the probate court of the city or town where the person lived, with the death certificate and the $30 fee.
5. After the judge reviews it (no hearing is required, but the judge may hold one), pay $5 for the certification of appointment.
6. Use copies of the certification to collect each asset; pay funeral, last-illness and administration expenses and debts, then distribute the rest.

Fee

$30 to file the statement and $5 for the certification of appointment.

Debts and responsibility

The voluntary administrator or executor must first pay the funeral and last-illness expenses and administration expenses (without a fee for their own services), then the person's debts in the legal order, and then distribute the rest to the surviving spouse or, if there is no spouse, to the heirs under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-1-10. They are liable as an 'executor in his or her own wrong' to anyone harmed by their handling of the estate, and to any executor or administrator appointed later.

What the bank or holder must do

When shown a copy of the certification of appointment, a proper written receipt and the passbook, policy, certificate or other document, the holder may pay or deliver the asset listed in the statement. Payment discharges the holder unless it has already received a written demand from an appointed executor or administrator.

Forms

• PC 1.10 Petition for Voluntary Informal Administrator (Rev. 03/21)

Law: R.I. Gen. Laws sec. 33-24-1

Source: Official page