Rhode Island will requirements (two witnesses, present at the same time)

The short version

How to sign a will in Rhode Island

Product path is §33-5-5. "No will shall be valid, except as provided in §§ 33-5-6 and 33-5-7, unless it shall be in writing and signed by the testator, or by some other person for him or her in his or her presence and by his or her express direction; and this signature shall be made or acknowledged by the testator in the presence of two (2) or more witnesses present at the same time, and the witnesses shall attest and shall subscribe the will in the presence of the testator, but no form of attestation shall be necessary, and no other publication shall be necessary."

1. Put the will in writing.
2. Sign it. Or have someone else sign for you, in your presence and by your express direction.
3. Make that signature, or acknowledge it, in front of two or more witnesses who are there at the same time.
4. The witnesses attest and subscribe the will in your presence.

"Present at the same time" is about the witnesses during the signing or acknowledgment. Both of them, together, in the room for that moment. Not one on Tuesday and one on Friday. What the section does not say matters just as much. It does not say the witnesses subscribe in each other's presence. They subscribe in your presence. Having them sign side by side is a fine habit. It is not a §33-5-5 element. "No form of attestation shall be necessary" means there is no required magic paragraph above the witness lines. It does not mean no witnesses. "No other publication shall be necessary" means the statute does not add a separate step where you formally declare, out loud, that this paper is your will. Saying so is harmless. It is not required. §33-5-6 lets a soldier or airman in actual military service, or a mariner or sailor at sea, dispose of personal estate by will as before. §33-5-7 treats a will executed outside Rhode Island under the law of the place where it was executed, or of your domicile, as legally executed, provided it is in writing and subscribed by you. Both are FAQ only. Neither is a shortcut for a civilian at a kitchen table in Cranston. Electronic and remote signing: not in the fetched sections. Out of scope.

Rhode Island will witnesses

Two or more, present at the same time when you sign or acknowledge, subscribing in your presence.

§33-6-1 is the rule to plan around. If a person attests the will and is given a beneficial devise, legacy, estate, interest, gift, or appointment under it, other than charges and directions for paying debts, that gift "shall, so far only as concerns that person attesting the execution of the will, or codicil, or any person claiming under that person, be utterly null and void." The witness "shall be admitted as a witness to prove the execution of the will."

Read it in both directions.

It is harsh on the witness. There is no "unless two other witnesses signed" save in that section. Adding a third or fourth witness does not bring the gift back. Do not import the two-other rules from Vermont, New Hampshire, or Kansas.

It is not harsh on the will. The gift fails as to that witness and anyone claiming under them. The will stands, and the witness can still testify to prove it.

§33-6-2: a creditor whose debt is charged on the estate by the will can still witness and be admitted to prove the will. §33-6-4: being named executor or trustee does not make someone incompetent to be admitted as a witness.

The easy version: two witnesses who take nothing. Not your sister who gets the beach chairs. And "any person claiming under that person" means nobody gets to collect that gift through the witness either.

Does a Rhode Island will need to be notarized

For validity under §33-5-5: no.

The sections this page cites do not create a testator self-proving affidavit of the kind many states use. What Rhode Island has in §33-7-26 is a proof rule for probate.

In the absence of objection by anyone interested in the estate, the probate court may admit a will on:

1. The oral testimony of any one of the subscribing witnesses as to due execution. That is sufficient evidence. 2. An affidavit by the subscribing witnesses, or any one or more of them, "executed at any time after execution of the will or codicil, whether before or after the death of the testator," before any officer authorized to administer oaths in or out of the state, stating the facts the witness would testify to in court. That is sufficient evidence of due execution. 3. An affidavit substantially in the statutory form meets (2).

Three limits. It is the witnesses' affidavit, not yours. It works "in the absence of objection," so a fight changes the picture. And it is a proof affidavit. Calling it a self-proved will overstates it.

The statutory form recites that the witnesses subscribed "in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other," and that the testator declared the paper to be their will. That is form language. It does not add an each-other rule or a publication step to §33-5-5.

Getting the affidavit signed while your witnesses are alive, findable, and still answer your texts is a kindness to whoever handles your estate.

Rhode Island will mistakes that hurt later

1. Pasting another state's each-other or handwriting rule. §33-5-5 has the witnesses subscribe in your presence, not each other's, and it has no holographic path.
2. Importing each-other presence from the §33-7-26 form. The form recites it. The validity section does not.
3. Thinking extra witnesses save a beneficiary-witness's gift. §33-6-1 has no two-other save. The gift is utterly null and void as to that witness.
4. Thinking a beneficiary-witness voids the whole will. It does not. The gift fails as to that witness. The will stands.
5. Calling §33-7-26 a self-proved will, or forgetting "in the absence of objection." It is a witness proof affidavit.
6. Treating the military or mariner exception as a shortcut. §33-5-6 covers personal estate for soldiers or airmen in actual service and mariners or sailors at sea. FAQ only.

Are holographic wills valid in Rhode Island

Not as a Rhode Island shortcut. §33-5-5 has no unwitnessed handwritten will. A will in your handwriting still needs two witnesses present at the same time when you sign or acknowledge, subscribing in your presence. Do not borrow a handwriting rule from a state that has one. Killswitch prints the witnessed will.

How Killswitch helps with a Rhode Island will

Killswitch drafts the will and prints §33-5-5 instructions: writing, your signature (or another person's for you in your presence at your express direction), made or acknowledged in front of two or more witnesses present at the same time, who then attest and subscribe in your presence. No attestation paragraph required. No publication step. §33-6-1 is stated plainly: a witness's gift is void as to that witness, with no two-other save. §33-7-26 is described as a witness proof affidavit, not a self-proved will.

Free to write and read. Pay once for the finished copy. You still run §33-5-5. We do not notarize. We are not your lawyer.

Start your Rhode Island will

Free to write and read. Pay once for the finished copy. Signing instructions for your state print on the document.

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Frequently asked questions

Sources

• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-5-5 (execution of will; acknowledgment and attestation)
• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-5-6 (persons in military service; sailors)
• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-5-7 (wills conforming to laws of other states)
• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-6-1 (gifts to attesting witnesses)
• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-6-2 (creditor attesting)
• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-6-4 (executor or trustee as witness)
• R.I. Gen. Laws §33-7-26 (proof of purported will or codicil)
• Killswitch Terms