Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: Rhode Island’s petition filing fee is a formula rather than a flat number, and the periodic accounting is annual (two separate filings: account and status report). Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where Rhode Island publishes no figure this page says so rather than printing an estimate. What drives the rest of the bill — lawyers, an investigation, a capacity evaluation — is on what guardianship costs.
Jump to: the document that avoids this proceeding entirely
What Rhode Island fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | The fee to file a petition for appointment of a guardian (or conservator) of an incapacitated adult in Rhode Island probate court is ad valorem, not a flat number: 1.0% of the personal property of the ward over which the court has jurisdiction, subject to a statutory floor of $30.00 and ceiling of $1,500.00. The petition section itself (§ 33-15-2) states no dollar fee — the fee schedule lives in the general probate-practice chapter, § 33-22-21. | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-22-21, 33-15-2, 33-22-25 |
| Bond | A limited guardian or guardian must give bond to the probate court, with sufficient surety, in a sum the court requires (§ 33-17-1). Surety may be waived by the court for a guardian who is the ward’s spouse, parent, child, sibling, or other heir at law, upon a showing that circumstances warrant waiver (§ 33-17-1.3); the court weighs factors like estate size and family conflict. A petition filed by the director of public welfare of a city or town, or by the directors of the state social-services, behavioral healthcare or developmental-disabilities agencies or their designated agent, who certifies that it is filed to enable a respondent without funds to receive assistance financed in whole or in part by federal grants, carries no court fees and no surety on the petitioner’s bond (§ 33-15-15). ‘Good Samaritan’ guardians (an unpaid guardian track for wards with insufficient estates, § 33-15-4.1) are exempt from surety unless the court finds circumstances warrant it (§ 33-15-4.3). | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-17-1, 33-17-1.2, 33-17-1.3, 33-15-4.3, 33-15-12, 33-15-15 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | A guardian ad litem is appointed for the respondent in every adult guardianship proceeding automatically upon filing of the petition (§ 33-15-7(a)); the GAL need not be an attorney. Court-awarded GAL fees are capped at $800, payable by the petitioner if no permanent guardian is appointed, or by the guardian of the ward’s estate if one is appointed; the court has discretion to award more if circumstances warrant. Separately, if the respondent contests the petition, wants limits on the guardian’s powers, or wants counsel, the court appoints legal counsel for the respondent (distinct from the GAL role) (§ 33-15-7(d)-(e)). | R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-7 |
| Periodic accounting or report | Two separate periodic filings, and both are explicitly annual in the statutory text (not triennial/biennial as in some other states): (1) Annual account — a guardian with estate authority must return an account to the probate court ‘in every year’ (§ 33-15-26); if not filed, the court cites the guardian and demands filing within 30 days, and non-compliance after that can make the guardian personally liable for the full value of the estate and forfeit compensation (though the court may excuse a given year’s account if it finds it unnecessary). (2) Annual status report — a guardian with authority over the ward’s person must file an annual status report, in every year, covering the ward’s residence, condition, capacity changes, and decisions made (§ 33-15-26.1); the probate court may waive this for good cause. | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-15-26, 33-15-26.1 |
What the proceeding is called here. Rhode Island calls the proceeding ‘limited guardianship’ (partial) or ‘guardianship’ (full) of an adult, codified in a single unified chapter, R.I. Gen. A guardian may hold authority over the ward’s person, the ward’s estate, or both (§§ 33-15-26 and 33-15-26.1 distinguish guardians with authority over the estate from guardians with authority over the person). The general probate-fee statute (§ 33-22-21) also uses the word ‘conservator’ alongside ‘guardian,’ and Chapter 15 itself also provides a separate conservatorship of the property of a person unable to care for it, on petition after a hearing (§ 33-15-44), with bond, inventory and accounting as for guardians of estates (§ 33-15-45).
The filing fee
The fee to file a petition for appointment of a guardian (or conservator) of an incapacitated adult in Rhode Island probate court is ad valorem, not a flat number: 1.0% of the personal property of the ward over which the court has jurisdiction, subject to a statutory floor of $30.00 and ceiling of $1,500.00. The petition section itself (§ 33-15-2) states no dollar fee — the fee schedule lives in the general probate-practice chapter, § 33-22-21.
It is not one number. The statute states it as: 1.0% of the personal property of the ward over which the probate court has jurisdiction, minimum $30.00, maximum $1,500.00 (R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21(a)).
for every petition for the appointment of a custodian, administrator, guardian, or conservator, or for the probate of a will, one percent (1.0%) of the personal property of the decedent or ward over which the court has jurisdiction, but in no event shall the fee be less than thirty dollars ($30.00) nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500). The fee is paid before the petition is filed, is based on estimates submitted by the petitioner, and is subject to revision, with a further payment or rebate made promptly, whenever it appears the estimates were incorrect
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-22-21, 33-15-2, 33-22-25.
The bond
A limited guardian or guardian must give bond to the probate court, with sufficient surety, in a sum the court requires (§ 33-17-1). Surety may be waived by the court for a guardian who is the ward’s spouse, parent, child, sibling, or other heir at law, upon a showing that circumstances warrant waiver (§ 33-17-1.3); the court weighs factors like estate size and family conflict. A petition filed by the director of public welfare of a city or town, or by the directors of the state social-services, behavioral healthcare or developmental-disabilities agencies or their designated agent, who certifies that it is filed to enable a respondent without funds to receive assistance financed in whole or in part by federal grants, carries no court fees and no surety on the petitioner’s bond (§ 33-15-15). ‘Good Samaritan’ guardians (an unpaid guardian track for wards with insufficient estates, § 33-15-4.1) are exempt from surety unless the court finds circumstances warrant it (§ 33-15-4.3).
Every executor, administrator, and guardian, before entering upon the execution of his or her trust, shall give bond to the probate court in any sum as it shall require, with sufficient surety or sureties, and with condition, except as provided in §§ 33-17-3 and 33-17-4, substantially as follows:
No surety shall be required on any bond of a guardian of the person and/or estate when the guardian is the spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, or other heir at law of the ward if the guardian demonstrates to the satisfaction of the probate court that circumstances warrant the waiver of surety and/or that no surety should be required.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-17-1, 33-17-1.2, 33-17-1.3, 33-15-4.3, 33-15-12, 33-15-15.
Who pays the premium is not answered. A surety bond carries a recurring premium and it is usually the largest ongoing cost of a guardianship of the estate. Rhode Island states no express rule on who bears it in the chapter read for this page, and no figure for what one costs is published anywhere this project could verify. That is a gap in the law and in the published record, not a gap we have filled with a guess.
Guardian ad litem and attorney fees
A guardian ad litem is appointed for the respondent in every adult guardianship proceeding automatically upon filing of the petition (§ 33-15-7(a)); the GAL need not be an attorney. Court-awarded GAL fees are capped at $800, payable by the petitioner if no permanent guardian is appointed, or by the guardian of the ward’s estate if one is appointed; the court has discretion to award more if circumstances warrant. Separately, if the respondent contests the petition, wants limits on the guardian’s powers, or wants counsel, the court appoints legal counsel for the respondent (distinct from the GAL role) (§ 33-15-7(d)-(e)).
Court awarded guardian ad litem fees shall not exceed eight hundred dollars ($800), which shall be paid by the petitioner for guardianship if a permanent guardian is not appointed for the respondent or by the guardian of the ward’s estate if a permanent guardian is appointed. The court has discretion to award guardian ad litem fees in excess of the cap if the circumstances warrant.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-7.
How often you have to account
Annual (two separate filings: account and status report). Do not carry that assumption across a state line: the interval is set by each state separately, several are biennial or triennial, and your own appointing court can order more often than the statutory minimum. The document that governs you is your order.
Two separate periodic filings, and both are explicitly annual in the statutory text (not triennial/biennial as in some other states): (1) Annual account — a guardian with estate authority must return an account to the probate court ‘in every year’ (§ 33-15-26); if not filed, the court cites the guardian and demands filing within 30 days, and non-compliance after that can make the guardian personally liable for the full value of the estate and forfeit compensation (though the court may excuse a given year’s account if it finds it unnecessary). (2) Annual status report — a guardian with authority over the ward’s person must file an annual status report, in every year, covering the ward’s residence, condition, capacity changes, and decisions made (§ 33-15-26.1); the probate court may waive this for good cause.
A limited guardian or guardian with authority to make decisions regarding the ward’s estate, shall return to the probate court, in every year, his or her account, in the same manner as executors and administrators are by law required to do.
A limited guardian or guardian with authority to make decisions regarding the ward’s person shall return to the probate court, in every year, the annual status report, in the form as shown in § 33-15-47, regarding the status of the ward.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-15-26, 33-15-26.1.
What an accounting has to contain, and the duties that come with it, are on the guardian accounting duties page.
What this page does not tell you
All four items this page set out to establish were read at primary and are stated above with their cites. What is missing everywhere, in every state, is a price: what an attorney charges to bring an uncontested petition, what a court-ordered capacity evaluation or investigation costs, and what a surety charges for the bond. None of it is published by any authority, and this page does not estimate it.
Where this fits
The filing fee is the smallest part of what a guardianship costs, and the national page sets out the costs that are larger and are not published anywhere. If nobody has been appointed yet, the comparison that actually matters is against the document that avoids this proceeding entirely — guardianship against a power of attorney.
Sources
| Item | Citation | Tier | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-22-21, 33-15-2, 33-22-25 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-17-1, 33-17-1.2, 33-17-1.3, 33-15-4.3, 33-15-12, 33-15-15 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-7 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-15-26, 33-15-26.1 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
General consumer information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Guardianship and conservatorship are governed by STATE law and differ materially between states; every figure here is quoted from the cited source as read on the date shown and changes without notice. Read as of August 14, 2026.