Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Rhode Island has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code, and it has no uniform-code style annual trustee report. A Rhode Island trustee's duty to account comes largely from the trust instrument and the common law of trusts, enforced by the courts. Estates are different: executors and administrators account to the probate court under a detailed statutory format.
Who must provide an accounting in Rhode Island
For trusts, the governing instrument is the first place to look for a reporting schedule. Beneficiaries who need a formal accounting seek it through the courts.
For estates, R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-1 requires every executor and administrator to return an account to the probate court on completing the administration, and at other times the court requires. An interim account is required only if an interested party requests it, and the court may excuse it for good cause. An executor or administrator who is the sole beneficiary, or who files a release from each beneficiary, may file an affidavit of completed administration instead of a final account, with evidence that Rhode Island estate taxes, the funeral bill and all claims have been paid.
Custodial trusts are a separate statutory category. Under § 18-13-15, a custodial trustee provides a written statement describing the property on acceptance, and a statement of the administration once a year, on reasonable request, on resignation or removal, and on termination.
What a Rhode Island estate accounting must contain
Under § 33-14-2, an account to the probate court covers a stated period. It charges the executor or administrator with the inventory or the balance of the last account, all income, gains from sales of personal property, other property received, and rents and proceeds of real estate sales. It credits all charges, losses and payments, including legacies, distributions and specific property delivered, and shows the investments of any balance and changes in investments, with supporting documentation if the court requests it. The executor may be examined under oath about the account.
The same charge-and-discharge structure is a sound model for a trust accounting where the instrument is silent on format.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Rhode Island probate accounts in the charge-and-discharge format § 33-14-2 requires, and trust accountings for beneficiaries and court proceedings. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about Rhode Island fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: Rhode Island General Laws Titles 18 and 33, Rhode Island General Assembly.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
