How the Rhode Island executor fee actually works
No percentage anywhere in the statute — and a distinctive mechanism for how compensation actually gets approved.
1. "Just," not "reasonable" — the statute's own word
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8: "Executors and administrators shall, also, be allowed in their accounts such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just." One sentence, no percentage, no schedule, no factor list — and a distinctive word choice ("just") compared to the "reasonable compensation" language most states use.
2. Paid through the account, not a separate petition
§ 33-14-8: compensation is allowed "in their accounts" — it's approved as a line item within the executor's or administrator's periodic or final accounting filed with the probate court, rather than argued through a standalone fee petition. The amount gets reviewed when the account is allowed, not decided upfront.
3. Thirty-nine separate probate courts
Rhode Island structure: probate in Rhode Island is a municipal responsibility, so there are 39 separate probate courts across the state's cities and towns, each with discretion to determine what compensation is just under the facts of the estate before it.
4. A hard no-fee rule for voluntary administration
§ 33-24-1(e): a voluntary administrator on Rhode Island's small-estate track serves with no fee at all under that specific procedure — not a waivable default, but a built-in feature of the voluntary-administration route itself.
5. The will's compensation controls if provided
Standard practice: testators often provide for personal representative compensation directly in the will, sometimes as a percentage of the estate's probate assets or another calculation method. If the personal representative rejects the will's compensation terms, if the will is silent, or if there's no will, the just-compensation standard of § 33-14-8 applies instead.
| Component | Rhode Island figure |
|---|---|
| Statutory formula | None — "just" compensation only |
| Approval mechanism | Line item within the account, not a separate petition |
| Probate courts statewide | 39, one per city/town |
| Voluntary administrator fee | None allowed under that specific track |