Quick answer: file a statement and death certificate with the $30 fee, then pay a separate $5 fee for the clerk's certification once the probate judge reviews it. Check whether an estate qualifies with the Rhode Island small estate checker.
Step by step
- Confirm the decedent named an executor in a will (for the voluntary executor version), was a Rhode Island resident, and the estate's value excluding tangible personal property is at or under $15,000.
- File a statement and death certificate with the $30 fee at the probate court.
- Confirm no other probate proceeding for the estate is pending in that court.
- Pay the separate $5 fee for the clerk to issue the certification of appointment.
- Wait for the probate judge's review — no hearing is required unless the judge decides one is needed.
- Present the certification, a written receipt, and any policy or passbook being surrendered, to collect the scheduled property.
The judge reviews it either way
Straight from the statute: upon payment of five dollars, the clerk of the probate court shall, if no other probate proceeding for administration of such estate is pending in said court, issue a certification of appointment of executor, but only after such certification has been reviewed by the judge of the probate court — no hearing is required as a condition, though the judge may still order one.
Facing probate in Rhode Island?
Talk to a Rhode Island attorneyA local probate attorney can review your estate — many offer a free consultation.
Each of Rhode Island's 39 municipal probate courts follows this same two-fee, judge-reviewed process, since the state's five counties run no court of their own.