Forms for Planning Your Estate in Rhode Island

In Rhode Island, a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and the witnesses sign an affidavit at probate instead of a self-proving affidavit.

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8 forms for Rhode Island

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Revocable Living Trust

Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.

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Free

Last Will and Testament

In Rhode Island, a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and the witnesses sign an affidavit at probate instead of a self-proving affidavit.

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Free

Pour-Over Will

In Rhode Island, a pour-over will is signed before 2 witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.

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Free

Healthcare Power of Attorney

Rhode Island allows a choice for a healthcare power of attorney: 2 witnesses or a notary.

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Free

Financial Power of Attorney

Rhode Island requires explicit durability language for a power of attorney to survive incapacity, and it is signed before a notary.

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Free

Transfer on Death Deed

Transfer real property to a beneficiary upon your death without probate. Available in 34 states and the District of Columbia.

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Free

Vehicle Transfer on Death

Name a beneficiary to inherit your vehicle at death without probate. Available in 26 states and the District of Columbia.

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Free

Living Will

In Rhode Island, the living will is the Declaration, a document of its own, apart from the healthcare power of attorney.

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Rhode Island requires 2 witnesses present when the testator signs. 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.

No. Rhode Island does not recognize holographic (handwritten) wills. A will must be typed or printed and signed with the formalities Rhode Island requires; a Rhode Island probate court will not accept an unwitnessed handwritten document.

Rhode Island requires 2 witnesses, each at least 18 years old and present when you sign, and the agent or your healthcare provider cannot serve as one. At least one witness must be unrelated to you.

Yes. Rhode Island requires a notary acknowledgment on a financial power of attorney. A power of attorney used for real estate is recorded with the county where the property sits.

Yes. Rhode Island prints the form in the statute. The document prepared here is that form, filled from your answers, with the agent parts left blank.

Forms for Planning Your Estate in Rhode Island

A complete estate plan is a small set of documents, each with its own job. A last will names who inherits, names an executor, and names a guardian for minor children, and it takes effect only after death and through probate. A revocable living trust holds property during life and passes it at death without a court process; a pour-over will sits beside it to catch anything left outside the trust. A financial power of attorney and a healthcare power of attorney name who acts if you cannot, and they end at death. A transfer on death deed, in the states that allow one, passes a home to a named beneficiary outside probate.

A healthcare power of attorney in Rhode Island is signed before 2 witnesses or a notary. In Rhode Island, probate on a $500,000 estate costs about $28,582, and a simple estate closes in 6 months to 12 months. Rhode Island levies an estate tax above $1,838,056 and no inheritance tax.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated October 15, 2026

Legal Sources

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