Tiverton Probate Court, RI Probate Information

Tiverton's local rules add several practical requirements for a personal representative. Rule 1 says fiduciary accounts must follow R.I. Gen. Laws 33-14-2, begin with the inventory or the balance from the last allowed account, and include an executed HUD-1 settlement statement when the account shows proceeds from a real estate sale. Rule 18 repeats the statewide 90-day inventory deadline for an executor or administrator (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1).

Before closing, Tiverton rule 2 requires original releases from legatees, including the fiduciary if the fiduciary is also a legatee, a copy of the paid funeral bill, evidence of claim releases, and the Rhode Island estate tax lien discharge. Rule 25 says the court generally requires releases from those entitled to all or part of an estate, whether the estate is closed by final account or by affidavit of complete administration, and requires an original Notice of Tax Clearance from the Division of Taxation before the final account is accepted (R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23-36).

Rule 23 matters when real estate must be sold: a copy of any purchase and sale agreement must be provided before the court grants a petition to sell, and an independent appraisal may be required. Rule 28 says a resigning fiduciary must include an inventory and final account, or an affidavit that there were never any estate assets.

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 (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-16); they are numbered in the PC series and downloadable at sos.ri.gov. The Tiverton Probate Court uses the same forms as every other Rhode Island probate court, and Tiverton rule 15 makes use of the statewide forms or copies of them mandatory.

Tiverton's probate page points readers to the Secretary of State probate forms page and directs form questions to an attorney. Tiverton publishes no separate local probate form beyond the statewide PC series; when no statewide form exists, rule 20 directs filers to the online miscellaneous petition form or a similar pleading.

Rhode Island sets probate fees by statute and the same schedule applies in all 39 cities and towns. For a petition to probate a will or to grant administration, the fee is one percent of the decedent's personal property over which the court has jurisdiction, with a floor of $30 and a ceiling of $1,500 (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21). Two things about that fee surprise people. First, it is due before the petition is filed and it is calculated from an estimate you supply on the petition itself, so the amount you pay at the counter is provisional: the statute requires the fee to be revised when the estimate turns out to be wrong, with a further payment or a refund, and the Tiverton Probate Court recalculates it against the inventory you file within 90 days of your appointment (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1). Second, the statutory fee is not the whole cost. Most petitions have to be advertised in a newspaper for two weeks, and the cost of that advertising is paid to the clerk in advance (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11); Tiverton also charges its own records fee. If every interested party signs a waiver, the advertising requirement and its cost can fall away under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22. A separate $30 fee applies to a list of other petitions, including filing a will with no probate, an affidavit of complete administration and a petition to file a claim out of time (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-11-5 and 33-22-21), and each certificate of appointment costs $5. Copies of anything on file are $1.50 a page with a $3 charge to certify (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21).

Tiverton's own Probate Court fee schedule is effective December 12, 2025. For a will probate or administration petition, the Tiverton total is $159.00 with hearing and qualification advertising, or $99.00 on waiver. The voluntary informal executor and voluntary informal administrator filings under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-2 and 33-24-1 are $39.00 each on Tiverton's schedule effective December 12, 2025. A real estate sale, mortgage or lease petition is $94.00 total on that same schedule, made up of the local filing charge plus $60.00 advertising under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11.

1. Before the hearing month, decide whether notice can be waived under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22. On Tiverton's fee schedule effective December 12, 2025, a waiver changes a will probate or administration petition from a $159.00 advertised total to a $99.00 waiver total.
2. If advertising is required, Tiverton rule 13 requires the matter and fees to be filed no later than the third Monday before the hearing date. Advertising is governed by R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-11.
3. The Tiverton Probate Court sits at 8:30 a.m. on the first Friday of each month at Town Hall, unless the first Friday is a legal holiday, when rule 7 moves the session to the second Friday. Local administrative rules must include session dates and times (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-29).
4. At the session, Tiverton rule 8 places cases on the docket in the order received, with contested matters generally heard at the end of the session. Rhode Island law separately allows special sessions for contested matters without extra charge (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-30).
5. After appointment, file the inventory within 90 days unless the court allows more time (R.I. Gen. Laws 33-9-1). Tiverton's inventory charge is recalculated under the one percent fee statute, R.I. Gen. Laws 33-22-21.
6. Before the final account is accepted, obtain the Division of Taxation clearance required by Tiverton rule 25 and R.I. Gen. Laws 44-23-36.

Tiverton adds two local facts to the statewide voluntary informal route under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24. First, Tiverton's Probate Court fee schedule effective December 12, 2025 prices both the voluntary informal executor filing under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-2 and the voluntary informal administrator filing under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-1 at $39.00 total. Second, Tiverton rule 2 says these voluntary informal filings under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24 are handled administratively within the probate clerk's office and do not appear on the court docket.

The statewide eligibility rules still control. The $15,000 figure is tied to R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24-1 and 33-24-2, and real estate keeps an estate out of the voluntary informal route under R.I. Gen. Laws 33-24.