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22 trust administration firms in Rhode Island. Browse practice areas, county coverage, and contact details.
Rhode Island follows the "reasonable compensation" standard for trusteesR.I. Gen. Laws § 18-6-1Verified Apr 4, 2026. Courts decide what's reasonable on a case-by-case basis, looking at trust size, complexity, and the trustee's actual work. Family-member trustees often waive the fee entirely. Professional trustees (banks, trust companies, attorneys) typically charge between 0.5% and 1.5% of trust assets per year, with corporate fiduciaries usually applying minimum annual fees. The Rhode Island trustee compensation calculator breaks it down by trust situation.
Trust administration in Rhode Island is typically faster than probate because trusts don't require court supervision. The main floor is the creditor claim period — 6 months in Rhode Island — during which the trustee can't safely make final distributions. Simple trusts often wrap up in 6-9 months; trusts that hold business interests, real property in multiple states, or that need to file estate tax returns can take longer. See the Rhode Island trustee checklist for the full process.
Estate planning attorneys in Rhode Island average $384 per hourClio Legal Trends Report 2025Verified Jan 1, 2025 for wills and estates work. Flat-fee packages run roughly $1,152–$2,304 for a simple individual will and $3,850–$5,775 for a basic revocable trust. Online and DIY services cost $30–$300 for the same documents — see the will cost calculator for a side-by-side comparison.
Rhode Island allows estates under $15,000 to use a simplified Voluntary Administration procedure, which is a form rather than a court case and typically doesn't require an attorney. For larger estates, formal probate is involved enough that retaining counsel is usually practical — the procedural work is what they're there for. Use the Rhode Island probate calculator to estimate the costs.
In Rhode Island, the situations where retaining counsel is typically worth the cost are: blended families with children from prior relationships; ownership of a business, rental property, or significant investment assets; special-needs dependents who need a special-needs trust to preserve benefits; estates near or above the Rhode Island estate tax threshold; substantial property held in multiple states. If none of these describe your situation, the simpler online and DIY tools are often enough.