R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-8-10 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-8 / Section 33-8-10
§ 33-8-10. Administration de bonis non.
Status: in_force

If a sole or a surviving executor or administrator dies, resigns, or is removed before having fully administered an estate, or there is any thing remaining to be done in execution of the will, the probate court shall grant letters of administration with the will annexed, or of administration, as the case may require, to administer the estate of the deceased not already administered.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-11 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-1 / Section 33-1-11
§ 33-1-11. Advancements and debts of decedent.
Status: in_force

(a) If a person dies intestate as to all or a portion of the decedents estate, any property given by the decedent during his or her lifetime to an individual who, at decedents death, is an heir, shall be treated as an advancement against the heirs intestate share only if:

(1) The decedent declared in a contemporaneous writing, or the heir acknowledged in writing, that the gift is an advancement; or

(2) The decedents contemporaneous writing, or the heirs written acknowledgment, otherwise indicates that the gift is to be taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedents intestate estate.

(b) For purposes of subsection (a) of this section, property advanced is valued as of the time the heir came into possession or enjoyment of the property or as of the time of the decedents death, whichever first occurs.

(c) If the recipient of the property fails to survive the decedent, the property is not taken into account in computing the division and distribution of the decedents intestate estate, unless the decedents contemporaneous writing provides otherwise.

(d) A debt owed to decedent is not charged against the intestate share of any individual except the debtor. If the debtor fails to survive the decedent, the debt is not taken into account in computing the intestate share of the debtors descendants.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-13-4 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-13 / Section 33-13-4
§ 33-13-4. Rights of creditors and heirs where no administration granted.
Status: in_force

Any creditor or creditors of any deceased person who shall have died intestate, being seised at the time of his or her death of real estate within the state, and upon whose estate no letters of administration shall have been taken, shall be forever barred from collecting their claim or claims against the estate of such deceased person, unless they shall, within the period of six (6) years of the death of the person, petition the probate court having jurisdiction for letters of administration upon the estate; and the heirs of the deceased person may alien or incumber the real estate freed from the claim of all creditors after the period of six (6) years shall have elapsed without a petition having been filed as provided in this section; provided, that nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the right of any creditor to satisfy his or her claim from any security held by him or her.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-11 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-12 / Section 33-12-11
§ 33-12-11. Order of preference of debts.
Status: in_force

(a) If the estate of a decedent is insufficient to pay his or her debts, the same, after deducting the charges of administration, and any property as is set off and allowed to the widow and family, shall be applied to the payment of his or her debts and charges in the following order:

(1) The necessary funeral charges of the deceased.

(2) The necessary expenses of his or her last sickness.

(3) Debts due to the United States.

(4) Debts due to this state, and all state and town taxes.

(5) Past and future child support obligations pursuant to § 33-11-51.

(6) Wages of labor performed within six (6) months next prior to the death of the deceased person, not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) to any one person.

(7) Proceeds due the Rhode Island state lottery pursuant to § 42-61-6.2.

(8) Other debts filed within six (6) months of the first notice.

(9) All other debts.

(b) If there is not sufficient property to pay all the debts of any class, the creditors of that class shall be paid ratably upon their respective claims; and no payment shall be made to creditors of any class until all of those of the preceding class or classes have been paid in full.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-3 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-1 / Section 33-1-3
§ 33-1-3. Descent when no paternal or maternal kindred survive.
Status: in_force

When in this chapter the inheritance is directed to go by moieties to the intestates paternal and maternal kindred, if there are no such kindred on the one part, the whole shall go to the other part; and if there are no kindred either on the one part or the other the whole shall go to the intestates surviving spouse or if the spouse did not survive the intestate, it shall go to the spouses kindred in the like course as if he or she had survived the intestate and then died entitled to the estate.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-3-11 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-3 / Section 33-3-11
§ 33-3-11. Division of real estate devised in common.
Status: in_force

Real estate held in common by devise may be divided, according to the respective rights of the parties entitled to such real estate, in the manner and form prescribed in this chapter for the division of intestate estates, and the like proceedings shall be had for effecting and confirming the same; provided, that the interest of surviving spouse shall be subject to distribution in accordance with §§ 33-25-1  33-25-6.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-6 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-22 / Section 33-22-6
§ 33-22-6. Additional notice given  Failure to comply.
Status: in_force

The notice prescribed by § 33-7-9 and the notice by publication in the manner as prescribed by § 33-22-11 shall also be given in all cases in which notice by mail is required by § 33-22-3, unless waived in writing by the persons entitled to such notice, but failure to comply with any of the provisions in §§ 33-22-2 and 33-22-3 shall not defeat the jurisdiction of the court or affect adversely the regularity of any proceedings in which the failure shall have occurred, and upon discovery of the failure the court may make such further orders as the circumstances may require.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-4.2 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-15 / Section 33-15-4.2
§ 33-15-4.2. Waiver of filing fees for good Samaritan guardianships.
Status: in_force

The probate court may on exporting application, issue orders providing the payment of a filing fee in cases of a good Samaritan guardianship, prior to the filing of the petition. The probate court shall provide forms for such application for waiver of fee.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-16 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-12 / Section 33-12-16
§ 33-12-16. Residue of insolvent estate of nonresident after payment to citizens.
Status: in_force

If there is any residue after payment to the citizens of this state, it may be paid to any creditors who have duly filed and proved their debts here in proportion to the amount due to each of them; but no one shall receive more than would be due to him or her if the whole estate were divided ratably among all the creditors as provided in § 33-12-15. The balance may be transmitted to the foreign executor or administrator; but if there is no foreign executor or administrator, it shall, after the expiration of four (4) years from the qualification of the administrator in this state, be distributed ratably among all creditors, both citizens and others, who have proved their debts in this state.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-18-22 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-18 / Section 33-18-22
§ 33-18-22. Release by good faith delivery of property under court order.
Status: in_force

Whenever any person acting as executor, administrator, custodian, or guardian shall make payments or deliver property or estate pursuant to the order of a probate court having jurisdiction, after the expiration of the time within which an appeal lies from the order and while an appeal is not pending from the order, the person making the payment or delivery in good faith shall not be liable or in any way responsible for the money so paid or the property so delivered, although the order under or by virtue of which the payment or delivery shall be made shall afterwards be reversed, vacated, or set aside. This provision shall not prevent a recovery of the money or property, by the person entitled thereto, from any person receiving it or in possession of the money or property.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-15 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-19 / Section 33-19-15
§ 33-19-15. Conveyances.
Status: in_force

Every executor, administrator, or guardian making a sale as provided in this chapter may, by virtue of his or her authority, make and execute, in due form of law, conveyances of the real estate sold; and the conveyances shall make as good title to the purchaser as the testator or intestate in his or her lifetime, or ward, being competent, could have made.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-21-6 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-21 / Section 33-21-6
§ 33-21-6. Proceeds of sale.
Status: in_force

The proceeds of a sale, and the balance of any proceeds after proceedings by creditors under § 33-21-4, over and above all expenses incurred by the town, shall be held by the town and be accounted for in the same way and be held for the same uses as the real estate would have been had no sale been made.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-19 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-19 / Section 33-19-19
§ 33-19-19. Exchange of cemetery lots by guardians.
Status: in_force

Probate courts may authorize guardians appointed or approved by them to exchange any lot of their wards in any burial ground or cemetery within this state, or any right or interest of their wards in any burial or cemetery lot, for any lot, right, or interest in the lot or in any other burial ground or cemetery, upon such terms and conditions as the courts may prescribe; provided, that in all such exchanges the title of the lot, right, or interest taken in exchange shall be taken in the name or names of the ward or wards whose lot, right, or interest is given in exchange.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-23-16 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-23 / Section 33-23-16
§ 33-23-16. Correction of want of notice.
Status: in_force

Whenever it shall appear in any probate proceeding that any person interested in the probate proceeding has not been duly notified, the jurisdiction of the court where the proceeding is pending shall not be defeated thereby, but the court may order notice to be given to that person. The notice shall be served not less than fourteen (14) days before the return day, and after the service and return thereof all orders and proceedings of the court shall be effective in binding the person named in the notice.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-12 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-9 / Section 33-9-12
§ 33-9-12. Possession and sale of property taken through mortgage.
Status: in_force

Upon recovery or surrender of possession of real estate mortgaged as provided in § 33-9-11, the executor or administrator shall be seised and possessed of the mortgaged estate, subject to liability to sale if necessary for the payment of debts, legacies or charges, of administration, in the manner provided by law for the sale of real estate by executors and administrators. The surplus proceeds of the sale, after payment of incidental expenses, debts, legacies, and expenses of administration, shall be held and distributed as personal property.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-16-22 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-16 / Section 33-16-22
§ 33-16-22. Support of persons other than ward, spouse, and children.
Status: in_force

A guardian shall not apply any portion of the income or the estate for the support or maintenance of any person other than the ward, the spouse and the minor children of the ward, except upon petition to the probate court and prior order thereon after a hearing. A signed duplicate or certified copy of the petition shall be furnished the proper office of the veterans administration and notice of hearing thereon shall be given the office as provided in the case of hearing on a guardians account or other pleading.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-8-1 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-8 / Section 33-8-1
§ 33-8-1. Grant of letters to executor named in will.
Status: in_force

Upon the probate of a will the probate court shall issue letters testamentary thereon to the executor named therein, if he or she is legally competent, and if he or she gives bond as by law required.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-24 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-19 / Section 33-19-24
§ 33-19-24. Examination of sale proceedings  Recovery of damages.
Status: in_force

Every executor, administrator, and guardian authorized to sell real estate by decree of court shall be required, upon application to the probate court by an heir, creditor, ward, or other person interested in the estate, to make answer, upon oath, as to all matters touching his or her compliance with the decree, as fully as he or she is liable, to account and be examined in reference to the personal estate. If there is any neglect or misconduct of the executor, administrator, or guardian in complying with the decree, or in making the sale under the decree, by which a person interested in the estate suffers damage, the person may recover damages for the neglect or misconduct on the probate bond or otherwise, as the case may require.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-6 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-1 / Section 33-1-6
§ 33-1-6. Widows or husbands allowance of real estate in fee.
Status: in_force

The probate court having jurisdiction of the estate of the intestate, if a resident of this state, or the probate court of any city or town in which the real estate of the intestate is situated if not a resident of this state, may also, in its discretion, upon petition filed within six (6) months from the date of the first publication of notice of the qualification of the administrator of the estate of the intestate, allow and set off to the intestates surviving spouse in fee real estate of the intestate situated in this state to an amount not exceeding one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) in value, over and above all incumbrances, if not required for the payment of the debts of the intestate; provided that if the real estate shall be in a single parcel of greater value over and above incumbrances than one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) and shall be deemed by the court, because of such condition and value, to be incapable of being allowed and set off hereunder, either as a whole or by partition, without unreasonable diminution in the value thereof, the court may order the parcel to be sold by the administrator, the administrator giving bond as in other cases of the sale of real estate, and from the proceeds of such sale may allow and set off the sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) to the intestates surviving spouse for his or her own use and any surplus of the proceeds of sale shall be deemed to be real estate for the purposes of descent and distribution; provided, however, that title to real estate situated in any town or city of this state shall not pass by the decree of the probate court setting off and allowing such real estate, for the purpose of conveyance by the intestates surviving spouse until a copy of such decree as entered, duly certified by the probate clerk, is recorded in the records of land evidence in the town or city where the land is situated. The allowance and set off under this section shall be in addition to the life estate pursuant to § 33-1-5.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-7-23 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-7 / Section 33-7-23
§ 33-7-23. Probate conclusive as to execution.
Status: in_force

The final probate of a will by the probate court, or on appeal, shall be conclusive as to its due execution.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-17-24 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-17 / Section 33-17-24
§ 33-17-24. Suit on bond following judgment for obligor.
Status: in_force

A judgment in favor of the obligor shall in no case bar any suit on a bond for the benefit of a different claimant or of the same claimant for a different claim.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-6 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-19 / Section 33-19-6
§ 33-19-6. Duration of authority to sell or mortgage.
Status: in_force

Every license granted by a probate court to sell real estate shall continue in force for one year, and every license to mortgage real estate shall continue in force for six (6) months, from the date of the decree; but the conveyance may be executed and delivered after these periods, respectively.
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-47 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-15 / Section 33-15-47
§ 33-15-47. Forms.
Status: in_force

The following forms shall be used for the purposes of this chapter:
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-23-1 — RI Code / Title 33 / Chapter 33-23 / Section 33-23-1
§ 33-23-1. Filing of claim of appeal, record, and reasons.
Status: in_force

(a) Any person aggrieved by an order or decree of a probate court (hereinafter appellant), may, unless provisions be made to the contrary, appeal to the superior court for the county in which the probate court is established by taking the following procedure:

(1) Within twenty (20) days after execution of the order or decree by the probate judge, the appellant shall file, in the office of the clerk of the probate court, a claim of appeal to the superior court and a request for a certified copy of the claim and shall pay the clerk his or her fees therefor.

(2) Within thirty (30) days after the entry of the order or decree, the appellant shall file, in the superior court, a certified copy of the claim and the reasons of appeal specifically stated, to which reasons the appellant shall be restricted, unless, for cause shown, and with or without terms, the superior court shall allow amendments and additions thereto.

(3) The appellant shall file with the probate clerk an affidavit in proof of the filing and docketing of the probate appeal pursuant to the time deadlines set forth in subdivision (a)(2).

(b) An appeal under this chapter is not an appeal on error but is to be heard de novo in the superior court. The record of proceedings, including the certified documents and the transcript (if any) from the probate proceedings, may be introduced in the superior court without further authentication. The findings of fact and/or decisions of the probate court may be given as much weight and deference as the superior court deems appropriate, however, the superior court shall not be bound by any such findings or decisions. Nothing herein shall preclude a witness who testified at the probate court proceeding from testifying at the superior court hearing, however, the transcript of such probate court testimony may be used for any evidentiary purpose, consistent with the Rhode Island rules of evidence.

(c) The deadline of subdivisions (a)(1) and (a)(2) are jurisdictional and may not be extended by either the probate court or the superior court.

(d) Nothing in this chapter shall preclude interested parties in a probate proceeding from stipulating to a probate appeal from the probate court to the superior court and, toward that end, to build a record by agreed statement of facts and otherwise; to fashion on a form of order or decree to preserve or frame issues as the parties desire; and to preserve the status quo ante pending appeal through custodianship of assets or otherwise. Such a stipulated probate appeal shall be governed by, and be subject to, the procedural requirements of this chapter.

(e) The executor, administrator, guardian, or other fiduciary, pending a probate appeal, shall annually, or more often as requested by the probate court, file a written report of the status of the appeal.

(f) The filing fees payable to the superior court clerk for reasons of appeal in a probate appeal shall be the same as those established from time to time for the filing of a complaint in a civil action.