Free Rhode Island Codicil to a Will

In Rhode Island, a codicil is signed before 2 witnesses, like a will.

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The person who made the will and signs this codicil. Rhode Island's will-execution statute reaches a codicil (R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-5-1), so the codicil is signed as a will is.

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A will is changed by a codicil, a separate signed instrument that adds, revokes or replaces provisions of the will and republishes the rest, or by a new will that revokes the old one. Rhode Island law defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed before two witnesses as a will is. The witnesses' affidavit of due execution used at probate covers a codicil as it does a will. The codicil prepared here names the will by its date, states each change as a numbered amendment, and prints the execution block Rhode Island requires for a will.

Rhode Island requires 2 witnesses present when the testator signs a will, and a codicil is signed the same way: Rhode Island law defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed before two witnesses as a will is. The witnesses' affidavit of due execution used at probate covers a codicil as it does a will. A gift to a witness who is also a beneficiary can be voided or reduced in Rhode Island, so the usual practice is disinterested witnesses.

Rhode Island does not require a notary for a will to be valid, and a codicil follows the will's execution rule. Rhode Island has no execution-time self-proving affidavit; the witnesses' affidavit at probate reaches a codicil as it reaches a will.

A will is changed by its maker. In Rhode Island the testator must be at least 18 years old, and a codicil is the testator's own signed instrument: Rhode Island law defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed before two witnesses as a will is. The witnesses' affidavit of due execution used at probate covers a codicil as it does a will. A power of attorney names an agent to act for you in the matters it lists while you are living, and an executor administers the estate under the will as admitted; neither document is the testator's signature on a codicil or a new will.

Rhode Island does not recognize a handwritten will without witnesses, and that rule is the will's. The codicil prepared here is typed and signed before 2 witnesses, as the Rhode Island will is, so it does not depend on the handwriting rule.

A Codicil to a Will in Rhode Island

A will is amended by a codicil, a signed instrument that names the will by its date, states each change, and republishes the rest. Rhode Island law defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed before two witnesses as a will is. The witnesses' affidavit of due execution used at probate covers a codicil as it does a will.

In Rhode Island a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and notarization is not required for validity; the codicil prints the same attestation for its witnesses, naming the instrument as a codicil to the will.

Rhode Island has no self-proving affidavit for the testator and witnesses to sign before a notary; a witness affidavit at probate can stand in for live testimony, and the same procedure reaches a codicil. The signing page says so, and no notarized affidavit prints.

The codicil names the will by its date and any earlier codicils, states each change as a numbered amendment (a provision added, revoked or replaced, in the words the will uses for it), ratifies and republishes the will as amended, and names the state whose law governs it. The signing page carries the state's witness rule, the self-proving status and the record's notes.

A new will is the other instrument of change: the Rhode Island will prepared here revokes all earlier wills and codicils by its own declaration, so a change that reaches most of a will's provisions is made that way, and a change to a few is made by codicil.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated October 25, 2026

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Data sourced from Rhode Island statutes and official state code. How we research.

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Free Rhode Island Codicil to a Will

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