In Rhode Island, estates with personal property of $15,000R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source or less use the Voluntary Informal AdministrationR.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source, 30 daysR.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source after death, a court filing short of full probate. Real property cannot pass through the affidavitR.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source; an estate that includes real estate uses a separate process. An estate over the limit does not qualify, and no affidavit is prepared for it.

Rhode Island's recorded instrument, Affidavit as to family facts, rests on the general recording statute for affidavits of facts affecting title to land. What a recorded affidavit does, in the statute's words: a recording under § 34-13-1 is constructive notice to all persons of the contents of the recorded instrument, so far as it is genuineR.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-2Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. It is evidence of the facts it states, not a deed; it does not itself transfer title, and a purchaser, lender or title company decides whether to rely on it.

In the town clerk or recorder of deedsR.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-1Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. The office records it as it records deeds, in the county where the land lies, and charges its recording fee per page.

It depends on what the person owned and how it was titled. Property with a named beneficiary, joint property with survivorship, and property in a trust pass outside probate. What remains goes through probate unless it is under the state's small estate limit, in which case a small estate affidavit collects it. The Probate Decision Tool applies your state's rules.