How Do I Avoid Probate in Rhode Island?

In Rhode Island, a home under a Lady Bird deed and a payable on death account pass outside probate, as does property in a revocable trust; what is left is the probate estate.

Mark what the owner holds

Rhode Island law says how each asset passes at death. Mark what the owner holds and how each piece is titled to see which pass outside probate and what remains for the probate estate.

Examples:

General information about how each asset passes at death under state law, and what remains for probate, not legal or tax advice. The probate cost figures are the probate cost estimator’s, run at the size of the probate estate. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions.

At a death in Rhode Island, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a pod designation passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death.

Rhode Island has no general statute making a payable-at-death provision in a written instrument nontestamentary. A policy with no beneficiary, or one payable to the estate, is part of the probate estate.

An employer plan is governed by federal law: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another. A retirement account with no beneficiary named is part of the probate estate.

Survivorship title in Rhode Island: Rhode Island survivorship vestings are joint tenancy and, between spouses, tenancy by the entirety. A conveyance to two or more persons, married or not, creates a tenancy in common unless it declares the tenancy joint, runs to them and the survivors or survivor of them, or plainly intends a joint tenancy; a spouse may convey to self and spouse as tenants by the entirety. In Rhode Island, no statute authorizes a transfer on death deed. A home in the owner's name alone, with no survivor, deed beneficiary or trust, is part of the probate estate.

In Rhode Island, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle. A vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate; one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.

Avoiding Probate in Rhode Island

Probate reaches what a person owned in their own name alone at death, with no survivor, beneficiary or trust named to take it. That is the probate estate, and the will, or the intestacy statute where there is none, governs only that. In Rhode Island an estate under $15,000 may be settled by PC-1.10 Petition for Voluntary Informal Administrator instead of a full probate.

Survivorship title in Rhode Island: Rhode Island survivorship vestings are joint tenancy and, between spouses, tenancy by the entirety. A conveyance to two or more persons, married or not, creates a tenancy in common unless it declares the tenancy joint, runs to them and the survivors or survivor of them, or plainly intends a joint tenancy; a spouse may convey to self and spouse as tenants by the entirety. A home that passes to the surviving owner is outside probate.

The Lady Bird deed is recognized in Rhode Island: the home passes to the remainder grantee at the owner's death without probate. Rhode Island recognizes the deed by statute: an owner may convey real estate and reserve a life estate with the power to sell, convey, mortgage or otherwise dispose of it during life without the consent or joinder of the remainder holders. A deed is signed, acknowledged and recorded in the land evidence records of the town or city where the land lies. Rhode Island has no transfer on death deed for real property. A home retitled to a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms; the deed used is Warranty Deed or Quitclaim Deed.

At a death, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a pod designation passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death. Sums in a Rhode Island multiple-party account belong to the surviving party at a party's death, whether or not survivorship is mentioned, unless the account's terms are without right of survivorship. A POD designation passes the sums to the surviving beneficiary.

Rhode Island has no general statute making a payable-at-death provision in a written instrument nontestamentary. An employer plan is federal: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another.

In Rhode Island, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle; a vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate, and one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated November 1, 2026

Legal Sources

Show 3 more sources

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

Is this your situation?

Get a complete guide for your specific circumstances.

New Baby or Adoption

Your family is growing. Your protection should too. Guardian nominations, trusts for minors, beneficiary updates, and the documents new parents need in place.

Learn more

Marriage

What married couples need in place: one joint trust or two, wills, beneficiary updates, and the spousal rights your state grants you automatically.

Learn more

New Home

How to put your house in a revocable trust: the deed you record, what it does to your mortgage and property taxes, and when a TOD deed is simpler.

Learn more

Retirement

Retirement changes your financial picture. Healthcare directives, beneficiary reviews, long-term care planning, and protecting what you've built.

Learn more

Free tools for planning your estate in Rhode Island: what a will or trust costs, whether you need a trust or TOD deed, and how documents are signed.

How Much Does a Will Cost?

An attorney-prepared will in Rhode Island runs $1,146 to $2,292, against $0 to $299 up front with an online service, and probate on a $500,000 estate adds about $28,582.

Calculate Costs

How Do I Name a Guardian for My Minor Children?

In Rhode Island, a parent names a guardian for a minor child in a will, and the nomination covers the child until the age of majority, 18.

See the Steps

Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?

In Rhode Island, a will-based plan pays probate attorney fees of typically 2.1% to 3.4% of the estate; a funded revocable trust keeps those assets out of probate and off that fee.

Calculate Costs

How Much Is the Federal Gift Tax?

Whether a gift owes federal gift tax, how much of the annual exclusion and lifetime exemption it uses, and whether Form 709 is due.

Calculate the Tax

What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?

An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Rhode Island runs $3,850 to $5,775 and a simple will $1,146 to $2,292, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.

Calculate Costs

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

In Rhode Island, four years at a public university cost about $116,656 and the cost of living is near the U.S. average; the state levies an estate tax above $1,838,056.

Calculate the Amount

Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?

Rhode Island does not revoke an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorce; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.

Get the Answer

How Do I Sign Estate Documents?

In Rhode Island, a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and notarization is not required.

Check the Rules

All Rhode Island tools

Rhode Island Estate Planning Resources

In-depth guides covering Rhode Island probate laws, trust requirements, and estate planning strategies.

How Do I Avoid Probate in Rhode Island?

Mark what the owner holds

Is this your situation?

New Baby or Adoption

Marriage

New Home

Retirement

Forms for Planning Your Estate in Rhode Island

Last Will and Testament

Codicil to a Will

Healthcare Power of Attorney

HIPAA Release

Financial Power of Attorney

Lady Bird Deed

Living Will

Tools for Planning Your Estate in Rhode Island

How Much Does a Will Cost?

How Do I Name a Guardian for My Minor Children?

Trust or Will: Which Costs Less?

How Much Is the Federal Gift Tax?

What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?

How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?

How Do I Sign Estate Documents?

You'll be back. Every time life changes.

Rhode Island Estate Planning Resources

Mark what the owner holds