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Glocester Probate Court, RI Probate Information
Quick facts
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Court | Glocester Probate Court |
| Filing office | Glocester town clerk, who is the clerk of the probate court under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-6 |
| Address and mailing | Glocester Town Hall, 1145 Putnam Pike, PO Box B, Chepachet, RI 02814-0702 |
| Phone | 401-568-6206, extension 0 |
| Fax | 401-568-5850 |
| [email protected] | |
| Clerk's office hours | Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Court session | Second Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. in the Town Council Chambers at Glocester Town Hall, as stated in Glocester's local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29 |
| Filing fee | Set by state statute: one percent of the decedent's personal property, with a minimum of $30 and a maximum of $1,500, payable before the petition is filed and computed from the petitioner's own estimate, figures unchanged since at least 1996 under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21. Glocester's own additional records and advertising charges under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 were not published on its website; ask the clerk before you file. The one percent is recalculated against the inventory under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1 and the difference is billed or refunded. |
| Local forms | Glocester publishes no probate form of its own. Rhode Island probate forms are statewide and free under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16. |
| E-filing | Glocester's probate page and rules do not offer electronic filing. The statutes assume paper: petitions are written and signed, the original will must reach the court, and the clerk issues a written receipt under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-1, 33-24-2 and 33-22-21. |
| Case search | The town's website does not publish an online probate case search. Probate records are kept in the Town Clerk's Office, are public records, and copies are $1.50 per page under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21, whose current copy amounts were left in place by 2014 amendments. |
| Remote appearance | Glocester's probate page and rules do not publish a video or phone option for probate proceedings. The rules do state that the courtroom is handicapped accessible and that interpreters for the hearing impaired can be provided if requested three working days before the hearing. |
| Website | https://www.glocesterri.gov/townclerk.htm |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you choose a probate path in Glocester, make a working list of the accounts, real estate, vehicles, debts, tax issues and beneficiary information. That list matters because the petition asks for an estimate of personal property, and that estimate drives the fee calculation under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21.
Sunset's estate settlement tools help families look for accounts across 2,300 institutions, organize what was found and turn that asset picture into the next probate steps for the Glocester Probate Court.
Which court handles jurisdiction
Rhode Island probate is municipal. Every one of the state's 39 cities and towns runs its own probate court, and the Glocester Probate Court is the court for Glocester alone under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-9. File where the decedent lived. If the decedent's home was in Glocester, the Glocester Probate Court is the court, and no other Rhode Island probate court has jurisdiction over the estate under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-9.
Rhode Island has no county probate courts and no county government. The Glocester Probate Court is the court for the town of Glocester and for no other municipality under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-9. Glocester is in Providence County, which matters in one respect only: an appeal from a decree of this court goes to the Superior Court for that county under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-23-1, and the Superior Court sits in four divisions statewide, with Providence and Bristol counties served together.
Glocester Town Hall is in Chepachet. Chepachet is a village within Glocester, not a separate Rhode Island municipality and not a separate probate court.
The jurisdiction process
- Identify the assets and debts first. The estimate of personal property on the petition controls the opening payment under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21, and that amount is adjusted later against the inventory required by R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1.
- Download the Rhode Island PC probate forms from the Secretary of State. The forms are statewide and free under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16; Glocester does not publish a separate local probate form.
- File with the Glocester town clerk at Glocester Town Hall, 1145 Putnam Pike, PO Box B, Chepachet, RI 02814-0702. The town clerk is the clerk of the probate court under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-6.
- Decide whether the matter can proceed on waiver under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22. Glocester's rules require petitions that do not require advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, or that are on waiver, to be submitted by noon on the Wednesday before the court session. Petitions that must be advertised under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 must be received one month before the next scheduled court hearing, with the required advertising fee.
- Pay the amount due before the petition is filed. The statewide fee for a petition to probate a will or grant administration is one percent of personal property, with a $30 minimum and $1,500 maximum, figures unchanged since at least 1996 under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21. Glocester's rules add that no matter is heard until all fees due have been paid.
- If you ask the court to approve fiduciary or attorney fees, attach an itemized fee schedule showing dates, services, time billed, hourly rate and total charged. That requirement appears in Glocester's local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29.
- Attend the Glocester session at 2:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month in the Town Council Chambers. Routine matters are heard first, and contested or time-consuming matters go to the bottom of the docket under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-30. A contested matter that cannot be completed at a regular session may be set for a special session without an added charge under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-30.
- After appointment, ask the probate clerk for the certificates of appointment you need. Rhode Island sets each certificate of appointment at $5, as currently stated in R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21, with the current certificate amount left in place by 2014 amendments.
- File the inventory within 90 days after appointment, unless the court allows more time, under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1. The statutory fee is recalculated against that inventory under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21.
- Before the Glocester Probate Court will allow your final account, it has to see that the Rhode Island estate tax has been paid, extended, or determined not to apply, and the Division of Taxation's certification settles the point under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23-36. In practice that means filing Form RI-706 with the Division of Taxation under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23 and getting back its Notice of No Tax Due for the probate court, even in an estate that owes nothing. The probate clerk separately notifies the Division within 30 days of your appointment under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23-6.
- Close the estate with the required account or affidavit. Glocester keeps probate records in the Town Clerk's Office, and copies are $1.50 per page under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21, with the current copy amount left in place by 2014 amendments.
Executor duties
Glocester's local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29 add practical filing details for a personal representative. A petition asking the court to approve fiduciary or attorney fees must include an itemized fee schedule with dates, services, time billed, hourly rate and total charged. A petition to sell real estate must be accompanied by, or presented at the hearing with, a notarized appraisal by a qualified appraiser. The rules state that contested or time-consuming matters are placed after routine matters on the docket, and special sessions may be scheduled without additional fees or charges under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-30.
Forms and documents
Probate forms at the Glocester Probate Court
Rhode Island probate forms are statewide. A legislative commission prescribes them and the Secretary of State publishes them free to the public, to lawyers and to the probate clerks under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16; they are numbered in the PC series and downloadable at https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/probate-forms/. The Glocester Probate Court uses the same forms as every other Rhode Island probate court.
Glocester's own probate page does not link a local form packet or a local filing checklist. Use the statewide PC forms, then call the Glocester town clerk at 401-568-6206, extension 0, if you need a court-issued form that is not on the Secretary of State catalogue under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16.
Timeline
- Before filing, decide whether the petition needs advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 or can proceed on waiver under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22.
- If advertising is required under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, Glocester's local rule requires the petition and required advertising fee to reach the clerk one month before the next scheduled hearing.
- If the matter does not require advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, or all necessary waivers are filed under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22, Glocester's local rule requires the petition by noon on the Wednesday before the session.
- File pleadings, memoranda and other filings at least three working days before the scheduled hearing, as stated in Glocester's local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29.
- Request a continuance in writing at least 24 hours before the session, as stated in Glocester's local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29.
- Attend the regular session at 2:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month in the Town Council Chambers. Routine matters are heard first, and contested matters can be moved to a special session without an added charge under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-30.
- If you need an interpreter for the hearing impaired, request one three working days before the hearing under Glocester's published rules.
Local nuance
Glocester-specific considerations
| Local point | What it means |
|---|---|
| Spelling and location | Glocester is the Rhode Island town. Chepachet is the village where Town Hall is located, and it is not a separate probate court. |
| Published rules | Glocester publishes a three-page set of local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29, adopted effective January 1, 2007. |
| Long lead time for advertised matters | Glocester requires petitions that must be advertised under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 to be received one month before the next scheduled hearing, with the required advertising fee. |
| Waiver deadline | Petitions that do not require advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, or that are on waiver under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22, are due by noon on the Wednesday before the session. |
| Accessibility note | The rules state that the courtroom is handicapped accessible and that interpreters for the hearing impaired can be provided if requested three working days before the hearing. |
| Real estate sale petitions | A petition to sell real estate must be accompanied by, or presented at the hearing with, a notarized appraisal by a qualified appraiser. |
| Guardian ad litem fee cap | Glocester's rules cap guardian ad litem fees at $800 unless the probate judge authorizes additional fees for cause shown. That figure is from the rules adopted effective January 1, 2007. |
Recent updates
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely Glocester path | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse with a co-owned home | If the house passed outside probate, the estate settlement may still need Glocester probate for accounts or other assets titled only in the decedent's name. If everyone who must receive notice signs waivers under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22, the filing can avoid the advertising step under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 and Glocester's one-month advertised-matter deadline. | Sunset helps identify which assets were jointly owned, which were beneficiary-designated and which may require the Glocester Probate Court. |
| Out-of-state adult child with a small estate | An out-of-state child of an intestate Glocester decedent cannot act as voluntary administrator under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-1 because that route requires a Rhode Island resident. If the child lives in New York, Florida, California or Texas and is named executor in a will, the voluntary executor route under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-2 may be available with a resident agent on PC-3.5 under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-2. The statewide limit is $15,000 under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-1, excluding tangible personal property under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-1, and real property takes the estate out of the voluntary informal route under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24. | Sunset helps sort the asset list before anyone assumes the small estate route under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24 is available, and helps connect the family with a local attorney when a resident agent or full petition is needed. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because real estate is involved, the voluntary informal route under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24 is not the path. A Glocester petition to sell real estate must be accompanied by, or presented at the hearing with, a notarized appraisal by a qualified appraiser. The estate settlement also has to address the Rhode Island estate tax lien process before the final account is allowed under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23-36. | Sunset helps gather account information, organize real estate and tax tasks, and prepare the family for the Glocester filing and the attorney conversation. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it provides | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Glocester Town Clerk and Probate Court | Address, phone, fax, role email, clerk's hours, public-records information and the second-Tuesday probate session. The town clerk is the clerk of the probate court under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-6. | https://www.glocesterri.gov/townclerk.htm |
| Glocester probate rules of practice and procedure | Local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29, including filing deadlines, advertising deadlines under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, continuance practice, interpreter notice and calendar order under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-30. | https://www.glocesterri.gov/Probate-Rules-Regulations.pdf |
| Rhode Island Secretary of State probate forms | Statewide PC probate forms, free to the public under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16. | https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/probate-forms/ |
| Rhode Island Superior Court | Information about the court that hears probate appeals under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-23-1. | https://www.courts.ri.gov/Courts/SuperiorCourt/Pages/default.aspx |
| Rhode Island Division of Taxation estate tax | Estate tax return and lien-discharge information for estates that need Form RI-706 under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23 before the final account can be allowed under R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23-36. | https://tax.ri.gov/tax-sections/estate-tax |
When to hire an attorney
Probate counsel is worth considering when the estate includes real estate to sell, a disputed claim under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-11-5, an out-of-state executor, a contested hearing, a tax lien issue, a fee petition, or any question about who should serve. Glocester's rules require extra support for some filings, including itemized fee schedules and notarized appraisals for sale-of-real-estate petitions. Sunset connects families with a vetted probate attorney.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset helps families build a clearer asset picture before filing, so the estate settlement starts with a practical list of accounts, property and debts.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset turns the information you gather into an organized probate packet for the Glocester Probate Court, using the Rhode Island statewide PC forms where they apply.
Find a local probate attorney. When a filing needs legal judgment, a sale of real estate, a resident agent, a contested hearing, or tax guidance, Sunset can connect you with a Rhode Island probate attorney.
Sunset is free for families. Families can use Sunset to organize the estate settlement, understand the next steps and decide when local legal help is needed.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file probate for someone who lived in Glocester?
File with the Glocester town clerk at Glocester Town Hall, 1145 Putnam Pike, PO Box B, Chepachet, RI 02814-0702. The town clerk is the clerk of the probate court under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-6, and Glocester is the proper probate court when the decedent lived in Glocester under R.I. Gen. Laws 8-9-9.
When does the Glocester Probate Court meet?
Glocester's local administrative rules under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29 state that court is in session on the second Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. at Glocester Town Hall in the Town Council Chambers.
What is Glocester's filing deadline before a hearing?
For a matter on waiver under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22, or a matter that does not require advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, Glocester requires filing by noon on the Wednesday before the session. For a matter that must be advertised under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11, Glocester requires the petition and required advertising fee one month before the next scheduled hearing.
Does Glocester offer electronic probate filing?
Glocester's probate page and rules do not offer electronic filing. Plan on a paper filing with the town clerk. Rhode Island statutes require written, signed petitions, delivery of the original will when a will is involved, and payment before filing with a written receipt from the clerk under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-1, 33-24-2 and 33-22-21.
Can I look up a Glocester probate case online?
The town's website does not publish an online probate case search. Glocester states that probate records are kept in the Town Clerk's Office, are public records and can be copied for $1.50 per page under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21, with the current copy charge left in place by 2014 amendments.
What does probate cost in Glocester?
Rhode Island sets the core filing fee by statute. A petition to probate a will or grant administration costs one percent of personal property, with a $30 minimum and a $1,500 maximum, figures unchanged since at least 1996 under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21. The payment is based on your estimate and can be revised after the inventory under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1. Glocester did not publish an itemized local fee schedule on its probate page or rules, so ask the clerk about current records and advertising charges under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 before filing.
Do I have to travel to Glocester for probate?
Glocester does not publish a video or phone option for probate proceedings. The practical way to reduce travel is to use waivers when everyone who must receive notice is willing to sign under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22. A waiver can also avoid advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11 and Glocester's one-month deadline for advertised matters.
Does Glocester have local probate forms?
Glocester does not publish a local probate form packet. Rhode Island probate forms are statewide and free through the Secretary of State under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16. Use the PC forms at https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/probate-forms/ and ask the clerk if a court-issued form is needed.
What if I disagree with a Glocester probate decree?
Probate appeals have two separate jurisdictional deadlines under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-23-1. A person aggrieved by a decree must file a claim of appeal with the probate clerk within 20 days after execution of the decree, then file the certified claim and reasons of appeal in the Superior Court within 30 days after entry of the decree. The appeal is heard de novo under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-23-1.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.