§ 33-24-2 - Administration of small estates where executor named in will – Voluntary executors.
SECTION 33-24-2
§ 33-24-2 Administration of small estateswhere executor named in will – Voluntary executors. – If a resident of Rhode Island dies leaving an estate that would otherwise besubject to being listed on a probate inventory pursuant to § 33-9-1,consisting entirely of personal property, the total value, exclusive oftangible personal property of which the decedent was owner, does not exceedfifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in value, and he or she leaves a will naminga person as executor, the named person, if of full age and legal capacity, may,(or, if the named person declines or is unable to serve, then any person namedas alternate, or, if such alternate declines or is unable to serve, then thesurviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew,aunt or uncle, or any interested party, if of full age and legal capacity and aresident of this state), after the expiration of thirty (30) days from thedeath of the decedent, provided no petition for letters testamentary or lettersof administration has been filed with the probate court of the city or town inwhich the decedent resided, file with said probate court upon a form prescribedby the court a statement, verified by oath or affirmation containing:
(a) The name and residential address of the affiant,
(b) The name, residence and date of death of the deceased,
(c) The relationship of the affiant to the deceased,
(d) A schedule showing every asset known to the affianttitled solely in the decedent's name and all assets known or believed to betitled in the decedent's name as of the decedent's date of death and theestimated value of each such asset,
(e) A statement that the affiant has undertaken to act asvoluntary administrator of the estate of the deceased and will administer thesame according to law, and apply the proceeds thereof in conformity with thissection,
(f) The names and addresses known to the affiant of thepersons who would take under the provisions of Rhode Island general laws §33-1-10 in the case of intestacy, and
(g) The names and addresses known to the affiant of thepersons who would take under the provisions of the will.
The original of the will shall be filed with the abovestatement and if the executor resides outside the state he or she shall appointa resident agent to represent him or her in the state.
Upon presentation of such statement, accompanied by acertificate of the death of the deceased and payment of a fee of thirty dollars($30.00), the clerk of the probate court shall file these documents as a partof the permanent record of the court. Upon the payment of five dollars ($5.00),the clerk of the probate court shall, if no other probate proceeding foradministration of such estate is pending in said court, issue a certificationof appointment of executor, but only after such certification has been reviewedby the judge of the probate court. No hearing in the probate court shall berequired as a condition for the issuance of the certification by the clerk ofthe probate court; provided, however, that the probate judge may require ahearing to take place in order to determine whether such certification shouldissue.
Upon the presentation of a copy of such a certification ofappointment by the clerk of the probate court, the tender of a proper receiptin writing and the surrender of any policy, passbook, note, certificate orother evidentiary instrument, a voluntary executor may, as the legalrepresentative of the deceased and his or her estate, receive payment of anydebt or obligation in the nature of a debt, or delivery of any chattel orasset, scheduled in such statement. Payments and deliveries made under thissection shall discharge the liability of the debtor, obligor or deliverer toall persons with respect to such debt, chattel, obligation or other assetunless, at the time of such payment or delivery, a written demand has been madeupon such debtor, obligor or deliverer by a duly appointed executor oradministrator.
A voluntary executor may sell any chattel so received andnegotiate or assign any choice in action to convert the same to cash in areasonable amount.
A voluntary executor shall, as far as possible out of theassets which come into his or her hands, first discharge the necessary expensesof the funeral and last sickness of the deceased and the necessary expenses ofadministration without fee for his or her services, and then pay the debts ofthe deceased in the order specified in Rhode Island general laws §33-12-11 and any other debts of the estate, and then distribute the balance, ifany, according to the terms of the will, and should that prove impossible, thebalance to the surviving spouse, or, if there is no surviving spouse, to thepersons and in the proportions prescribed by § 33-1-10.
A voluntary executor shall be liable as an executor in his orher own wrong to all persons aggrieved by his or her administration of theestate, and, if letters testamentary or letters of administration are at anytime granted, shall be liable as such an executor to the rightful executor oradministrator.