Rhode Island Living Trust
The Rhode Island rules that shape the document: no notary or witnesses to create the trust, an illusory-transfer trap under Pezza v. Pezza that can undo a spouse's exclusion, an automatic homestead exemption that follows the house into the trust, and no rule against perpetuities at all.
Find out where you stand in Rhode Island
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Introduction
Rhode Island has never adopted the Uniform Trust Code, so there is no single Rhode Island Trust Code to point to; the law is a patchwork of statutes scattered across Title 18 (Fiduciaries) and Title 34 (Property), plus the common law. R.I. Gen. Laws Section 18-4-27 is unusually permissive about creating the trust itself, expressly validating a written trust even though the settlor can revoke it, keep the income, and act as sole trustee and sole beneficiary. But the same features that make a Rhode Island living trust easy to create are what the Rhode Island Supreme Court, in Pezza v. Pezza, 690 A.2d 345 (R.I. 1997), used to disregard one as illusory against a surviving spouse's statutory claim. And, as in every state, this trust avoids probate only for what is actually retitled into it; anything left in your own name still goes through Rhode Island probate.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Rhode Island's sharpest trap: under Pezza v. Pezza, 690 A.2d 345 (R.I. 1997), a trust conveyance of real estate made while the settlor keeps the power to revoke, demand the principal back, and act as trustee, the normal features of a funded revocable living trust, can be found illusory and disregarded, pulling the house back into the estate for a surviving spouse's statutory life estate under Section 33-25-2, even though the deed was validly recorded before death.
- 2
Rhode Island has not adopted the Uniform Trust Code. Trust law is drawn from Title 18 (Fiduciaries) and Title 34 (Property) plus the common law; there is no chapter titled the Rhode Island Trust Code or the Uniform Trust Code anywhere in the statutes.
- 3
Creating the trust itself requires no notary, no witnesses, and no will formalities. Section 18-4-27 validates a written trust despite the settlor's power to revoke, a retained income interest, or the settlor serving as sole trustee and sole current beneficiary. Rhode Island does require a written instrument; it does not enforce a purely oral trust of personal property.
- 4
Funding real estate into the trust is a different formality from creating the trust. The deed must be signed and acknowledged before a notary under Section 34-11-1, no subscribing witnesses required, and recorded in the land evidence records of the city or town where the property sits, since Rhode Island has no counties for land recording.
- 5
Rhode Island's automatic $500,000 homestead exemption expressly extends to a person who occupies the home as a beneficiary of a revocable or irrevocable trust (Section 9-26-4.1). Funding the residence into this trust does not cost the family the exemption, a question many states leave unresolved.
- 6
Rhode Island abolished the common-law rule against perpetuities outright for both legal and equitable interests (Section 34-11-38), with no maximum duration substituted. That makes Rhode Island a workable, if unadvertised, perpetual dynasty-trust jurisdiction.
- 7
Rhode Island imposes its own estate tax, with a threshold of $1,838,056 for deaths on or after January 1, 2026, adjusted annually for inflation; confirm the current figure before relying on it. This revocable trust does not reduce that tax, since Rhode Island's gross estate concept reaches assets the settlor could revoke during life.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Living Trust in Rhode Island, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Living Trust guide walks through them.
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Rhode Island Requirements for Living Trust
Rhode Island No Notary or Witness for the Trust Document
R.I. Gen. Laws Section 18-4-27 validates a written trust despite the settlor's power to revoke, a retained income interest, or the settlor acting as sole trustee and sole current beneficiary. No notary or witness signature is required to create the trust itself, but a written instrument is required.
Rhode Island Notarized, City-or-Town-Recorded Funding Deed
Section 34-11-1 requires a deed conveying Rhode Island real property to the trustee to be signed and acknowledged before a notary or other authorized officer; no subscribing witnesses are required. Record it in the land evidence records of the city or town where the property lies, since Rhode Island has no counties for land recording.
Rhode Island Illusory-Transfer Risk to the Elective Share
Under Pezza v. Pezza, 690 A.2d 345 (R.I. 1997), a trust conveyance of real estate that remains revocable, with the settlor able to demand the principal back and acting as trustee, may be found illusory and disregarded, pulling the property back into the estate for a surviving spouse's statutory life estate under Section 33-25-2.
Rhode Island Homestead Exemption Extends to Trust Beneficiaries
The automatic $500,000 homestead exemption under Section 9-26-4.1 expressly extends to a person who occupies the home as a beneficiary of a revocable or irrevocable trust, so funding the residence into this trust does not cost the family the exemption.
Rhode Island Certificate of Trust for Real Estate
Section 34-4-27 lets the trustee record an affidavit or memorandum of trust instead of the full instrument when conveying, mortgaging, or leasing real estate. It must state the trustees' authority and how successors are appointed, but need not disclose beneficiaries, and third parties may rely on it without actual knowledge to the contrary.
Rhode Island Rule Against Perpetuities Abolished
Section 34-11-38 abolishes the common-law rule against perpetuities entirely, for both legal and equitable interests, with no maximum duration substituted, allowing this trust to continue indefinitely if its terms so provide.
Rhode Island Self-Settled Asset Protection Requires Irrevocability
The Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act (Sections 18-9.2-1 to 18-9.2-7) protects trust assets from the settlor's creditors only for an irrevocable trust administered by a qualified trustee. This revocable living trust provides no such protection during the settlor's life.