(a)  No surety shall be required on any bond, including surety on a bond for the sale of real estate, of an administrator of the estate of a person who died intestate, when the administrator is the surviving spouse or the sole heir of the decedent, or when the administrator is an heir-at-law of the decedent who demonstrates to the satisfaction of the probate court that circumstances warrant the waiver of surety and/or that no surety should be required. The probate court may require surety in any instance where it finds the circumstances so warrant such surety.

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Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 33-17-1.2

  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • real estate: may be construed to include lands, tenements, and hereditaments and rights thereto and interests therein. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-10

(b)  In making a determination as to whether surety should be required, the probate court’s consideration may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1)  The total number of the decedent’s heirs at law;

(2)  The relationship of the heirs at law to one another;

(3)  The extent to which there appears to be issues and/or conflicts between the heirs at law in regard to the decedent’s estate, or the corresponding lack of such issues and/or conflicts; and

(4)  The total size, extent and monetary value of the decedent’s estate; and

In making a determination pursuant to provisions of this section, the court may conduct such hearings as it deems appropriate.

History of Section.
P.L. 1977, ch. 112, § 1; P.L. 1985, ch. 159, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 484, § 2.