Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Rhode Island, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Rhode Island’s intestacy statute (R.I. Gen. Laws Title 33, Chapter 33-1 (Rules of Descent): §§ 33-1-1, 33-1-2, 33-1-3 (real property descent order and spouse-takes-all default), 33-1-5 (spouse’s life estate in realty), 33-1-6 (spouse’s $150,000 fee-simple realty allowance), 33-1-10 (spouse’s share of personal property), 33-1-12 (intestate estate)) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Rhode Island residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: R.I. Gen. Laws Title 33, Chapter 33-1 (Rules of Descent): §§ 33-1-1, 33-1-2, 33-1-3 (real property descent order and spouse-takes-all default), 33-1-5 (spouse’s life estate in realty), 33-1-6 (spouse’s $150,000 fee-simple realty allowance), 33-1-10 (spouse’s share of personal property), 33-1-12 (intestate estate) and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Real property: under section 33-1-3, if there are no kindred on EITHER the paternal or maternal side (no descendants/parents/siblings under section 33-1-1 and no grandparents/aunts/uncles/etc. under section 33-1-2), the whole goes to the intestate’s surviving spouse. Personal property: section 33-1-10(3) sends any residue not allocated to the spouse’s guaranteed share to the heirs of the intestate in the same manner real estate descends, so with no surviving kindred, the spouse likewise takes the full personalty residue by the same rule, on top of the spouse’s baseline share.
When it is less than everything: Rhode Island splits real and personal property rather than using a single fraction. REAL PROPERTY: the surviving spouse always gets a LIFE ESTATE in all of the decedent’s real estate (section 33-1-5), regardless of whether children survive, PLUS a probate-court-discretionary fee-simple allowance of up to $150,000 in value (section 33-1-6), IN ADDITION to the life estate; the remainder interest passes under the descent order, or wholly to the spouse if no kindred exist. PERSONAL PROPERTY (surplus after debts, per section 33-1-10): if the decedent died WITHOUT issue, spouse gets $50,000 off the top plus one-half (1/2) of the remainder, absolutely; if the decedent died WITH issue, spouse gets one-half (1/2) of the surplus, absolutely; the residue passes per the same descent order. BLENDED-FAMILY REDUCTION: Rhode Island has NONE. Section 33-1-10 draws its line only at ‘with issue’ vs ‘without issue’; it does not ask whether the decedent’s issue are also the spouse’s issue, so a spouse with only stepchildren gets exactly the same 1/2-of-surplus share as a spouse whose own children survive. This is a structural contrast with North Dakota’s and South Dakota’s UPC dollar-bracket blended-family reduction.
if there are no kindred either on the one part or the other the whole shall go to the intestate’s surviving spouse (section 33-1-3); The sum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) from the surplus and one-half of the remainder to the widow or surviving husband forever, if the intestate died without issue. (section 33-1-10(1))
Source: R.I. Gen. Laws Title 33, Chapter 33-1 (Rules of Descent): §§ 33-1-1, 33-1-2, 33-1-3 (real property descent order and spouse-takes-all default), 33-1-5 (spouse’s life estate in realty), 33-1-6 (spouse’s $150,000 fee-simple realty allowance), 33-1-10 (spouse’s share of personal property), 33-1-12 (intestate estate)
If a DIY will fits your situation in Rhode Island
In Rhode Island, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
For real property (and personalty residue by cross-reference in section 33-1-10(3)): section 33-1-1: (1) children/descendants; (2) if none, parents equally or surviving parent; (3) if none, brothers and sisters and their descendants. Section 33-1-2 (if none of the above survive on either side): in equal moieties to paternal and maternal kindred: (1) grandparents equally; (2) if none, uncles/aunts or their descendants by representation; (3) if none, great-grandparents equally; (4) if none, great-uncles/great-aunts or their descendants, and so on without end to the nearest lineal ancestors and their descendants. Section 33-1-3: if no kindred on one side, all to the other side; if no kindred on either side, all to the surviving spouse (or, if the spouse predeceased, to the spouse’s kindred in the like course).
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: No statutory distinction is codified in Chapter 33-1 (sections 33-1-1 through 33-1-13 contain no half-blood section at all, confirmed by direct check; section 33-1-9, which might have held one, was repealed in 1995 and now covers something else). Half-blood siblings/kindred inherit under the same undifferentiated ‘brothers and sisters’/’kindred’ language as whole-blood relatives, a full share by omission of any reduction clause; Rhode Island simply has no half-blood carve-out to apply.
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Rhode Island property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.