Survivorship depends on the account's own terms
Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 19-9-14.1, an account may be for a single party or multiple parties, and a multiple-party account may be set up with or without a right of survivorship between the parties. The account's own terms control which applies — a multiple-party account with survivorship passes automatically to the surviving party or parties at death, without a probate proceeding for those funds, while one without survivorship does not.
Survivorship and P.O.D. can combine
Either a single-party or a multiple-party account may carry a payable-on-death (P.O.D.) designation. A multiple-party account can have both survivorship between the current owners and a separate P.O.D. beneficiary lined up for after the last surviving owner eventually dies — letting a married couple, for example, hold a joint account together during both of their lifetimes, with a named beneficiary automatically inheriting whatever remains once both spouses have passed away.
A uniform form, since 2008
Rhode Island's statute has been in effect since July 5, 2008, and governs accounts established before, on, or after that date, regardless of the specific form originally used to open the account. The law includes a standard, uniform account-selection form that banks can use, letting the account holder specifically select and initial whether the account is single-party, multiple-party with or without survivorship, and whether a P.O.D. designation applies — giving depositors a clear, direct way to document their intent right at the time the account is opened.
Why this framework matters more in Rhode Island
Because Rhode Island currently has no transfer-on-death deed for real estate, bank and investment accounts carry proportionally more of the weight of keeping assets out of probate here than they might in a state that also offers a real-estate TOD deed as an alternative. Rhode Island residents planning their estates should pay particular attention to how their bank and brokerage accounts are actually titled, since fewer non-probate options exist overall compared to many other states.
Real estate follows its own separate framework
The same basic survivorship concept extends to real estate under Rhode Island's joint tenancy and tenancy-by-the-entirety statutes, though real property follows its own separate rules, including the distinctive possibility that a pending partition lawsuit can suspend a joint tenant's ordinary right of survivorship.
Life insurance and retirement accounts
Life insurance and retirement accounts like a 401(k) or IRA follow the same basic beneficiary-designation rule as P.O.D. bank accounts: the named beneficiary receives the asset directly, outside probate, as long as they're alive when the owner dies. Either one becomes part of the probate estate only if no beneficiary was ever named, every named beneficiary predeceased the owner with no contingent beneficiary in place, or the policy or plan names the owner's own estate.