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Rhode Island personal representative compensation

Rhode Island executor fee calculator

Rhode Island states no percentage schedule: the Probate Court allows the executor or administrator compensation in the account in the amount the court considers just. The cited section does not specify a value base, will override, or separate extraordinary-services rate.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. Compensation base

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

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Your working estimate

Rhode Island estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededPetition to appoint an administrator or to probate a will (statewide, R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.More information neededVoluntary informal administration under § 33-24-12 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Rhode Island states no percentage schedule: the Probate Court allows the executor or administrator compensation in the account in the amount the court considers just. The cited section does not specify a value base, will override, or separate extraordinary-services rate.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

How Rhode Island executor compensation works

In Rhode Island, the personal representative (executor) is the person the court appoints, or the will nominates, to administer the estate. Rhode Island compensation is governed by state statute and, where the statute permits, by the terms of the will or a court order, so the lawful Rhode Island fee is whatever those authorities set — not a national rule of thumb.

Rhode Island does not set a statewide percentage schedule.

The amount is not computable from estate value alone. This page therefore publishes no percentage result; it reports the reasonable-compensation standard the reviewed record supports instead.

What this state does not set

Rhode Island does not set one statutory percentage to multiply by the estate. Do not substitute a neighboring state's rate or an informal fee table. The amount depends on the services and accounting in the particular administration, and the will may affect the compensation analysis where the governing rule allows it.

The governing compensation standard

Executors and administrators shall, also, be allowed in their accounts such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just.

How the amount is fixed

Rhode Island states no percentage schedule: the Probate Court allows the executor or administrator compensation in the account in the amount the court considers just. The cited section does not specify a value base, will override, or separate extraordinary-services rate.

Keep the estate accounting, time and task log, receipts, and any will or compensation agreement together. Before taking a fee, ask the Probate Court (city or town) how compensation is presented for review in this estate and whether an order or account approval is required. This page cannot decide what a court will consider reasonable.

Rhode Island compensation map

Which figure the Rhode Island fee rule actually measures

A percentage is not a fee answer until its base is known. This Rhode Island map identifies the compensation standard and the accounting figure it uses, while keeping court approval and extraordinary work outside an invented total.

QuestionRecorded Rhode Island answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Voluntary informal administration of small estatesConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$15,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; Claims generally run six months from first publication (§ 33-11-5(a)), but § 33-11-5(b) permits a creditor lacking adequate notice to petition before distribution to present a late claim, and § 33-11-5.1 imposes a duty on the personal representative to notify known or reasonably ascertainable creditors of the commencement of the estate. Notice sent at least 60 days before the six-month period expires is deemed adequate; that 60-day language defines adequate notice rather than a standalone claim period, so one days value would hide the extension mechanism.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the Probate Court (city or town) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Rhode Island states no percentage schedule: the Probate Court allows the executor or administrator compensation in the account in the amount the court considers just. The cited section does not specify a value base, will override, or separate extraordinary-services rate. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Rhode Island fee record, band by band

This is the registry view of the compensation rule, separate from the calculator result. It shows whether a rate schedule exists and what accounting base the schedule names. A blank band is not permission to borrow a percentage from another state.

Rhode Island has no tier table this site can price from the accepted record. The controlling record is R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8; read its quoted standard and ask the court how the fee is presented for approval.

Prepare a reasonable-compensation request

Because Rhode Island does not publish a percentage table here, the useful output is a record of the work and the accounting figure the court can review. Keep the will or appointment order, the the estate accounting the rule names, a dated task log, receipts, and a separate list of extraordinary work. This worksheet does not predict what the Probate Court (city or town) will approve.

Executors and administrators shall, also, be allowed in their accounts such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just.

Record to assembleWhy it matters to the Rhode Island review
Will, appointment, or compensation agreementShows whether a document states a fee or leaves the amount to the reviewed standard.
Accounting baseSeparates the estate accounting from the gross asset list.
Dated task and time recordConnects the requested amount to the administration work actually performed.
Receipts and extraordinary-work listKeeps expenses and separately reviewable services out of an unexplained round number.

Case-file context

Keep the Rhode Island answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Rhode Island descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Route context

Rhode Island’s probate courts are municipal rather than a single state court division, but filing fees are statewide statutory: a formal appointment or will-probate petition costs 1% of the decedent’s personal property (min $30, max $1,500) under § 33-22-21, while the narrow voluntary informal small-estate route (§ 33-24-1, or § 33-24-2 where a will names the executor) is a personal-property procedure costing $30 plus a $5 certification.

After 30 days, an eligible adult Rhode Island resident may file in the decedent’s city or town Probate Court if the estate consists entirely of personal property and the inventory-counted value, excluding the tangible-personal-property category identified by § 33-24-1, does not exceed $15,000. No petition for letters may already be filed. Where the decedent left a will naming an executor, R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 gives the named executor (or, if unable to serve, an alternate or listed relative) a parallel voluntary route on the same $15,000 personal-property test.

Cost context

Rhode Island sets a statewide statutory probate fee in R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21(a): for every petition to appoint an administrator (or custodian, guardian, or conservator) or to probate a will, one percent (1.0%) of the decedent's personal property over which the court has jurisdiction, subject to a $30 minimum and a $1,500 maximum, paid before filing on the petitioner's estimate and revisable. The narrower § 33-24-1 voluntary informal small-estate route instead charges a flat $30 filing fee plus $5 for the certification of appointment. Municipalities may charge separately for copies and certification.

2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Deadline context

Claims generally run six months from first publication (§ 33-11-5(a)), but § 33-11-5(b) permits a creditor lacking adequate notice to petition before distribution to present a late claim, and § 33-11-5.1 imposes a duty on the personal representative to notify known or reasonably ascertainable creditors of the commencement of the estate. Notice sent at least 60 days before the six-month period expires is deemed adequate; that 60-day language defines adequate notice rather than a standalone claim period, so one days value would hide the extension mechanism.

  • The code publisher exposes amendment history but no edition-level currentness marker.
  • The § 33-24-1 voluntary small-estate route is a separate flat charge ($30 filing plus $5 certification) and is not priced from the § 33-22-21(a) percentage.

Court-material note: Rhode Island probate is filed with the city or town Probate Court where the decedent resided, which supplies local filing instructions, but the opening fee is set statewide by statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21 fixes 1% of personal property (min $30, max $1,500) for a formal appointment/probate petition, and § 33-24-1 fixes $30 + $5 for the voluntary small-estate route. No statewide judiciary small-estate form returning HTTP 200 was found; the statutory fee itself is the pinned authority.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Rhode Island amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Rhode Island ceiling is $15,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet. Counted that way, $11,300 sits below the Rhode Island figure and $18,800 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Rhode Island counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Rhode Island ceilingWhat it does not decide
$11,300Below $15,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$18,800Above $15,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Bring the stated accounting base and the will or court instructions to the compensation discussion.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Rhode Island probate is filed with the city or town Probate Court where the decedent resided, which supplies local filing instructions, but the opening fee is set statewide by statute: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21 fixes 1% of personal property (min $30, max $1,500) for a formal appointment/probate petition, and § 33-24-1 fixes $30 + $5 for the voluntary small-estate route.

No statewide judiciary small-estate form returning HTTP 200 was found; the statutory fee itself is the pinned authority.

Source trail

Records used by this Rhode Island map

Compensation source

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

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