Rhode Island: estate, probate and Medicaid rules in one place

Quick answers

State estate tax

Estate-tax dataset 2026.v2

State estate tax

YesVerified

Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1 (rate/credit; annual CPI-U adjustment of the credit) · Checked July 18, 2026

Estate-tax exemption

$1,838,056Verified

Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1 (rate/credit; annual CPI-U adjustment of the credit) · Effective: 2026 deaths · Checked July 18, 2026

Estate-tax filing threshold

$1,838,056Verified

Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1 (rate/credit; annual CPI-U adjustment of the credit) · Checked July 18, 2026

Estate-tax top rate

16%Verified

Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1 (rate/credit; annual CPI-U adjustment of the credit) · Effective: 2026 deaths · Checked July 18, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island estate and inheritance tax page

Inheritance tax

Estate-tax dataset 2026.v2

Inheritance tax

NoVerified

Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1 (rate/credit; annual CPI-U adjustment of the credit) · Checked July 18, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island estate and inheritance tax page

Transfer-on-death deed

Transfer-on-death deed for real estate

None — not available for real propertyNot primary-verified

No TOD-deed statute — 2025 bill (S 0141) died in committee; verify with the municipal land-evidence records / an attorney

· Checked July 26, 2026

Controlling statute

Not primary-verified

No TOD-deed statute — 2025 bill (S 0141) died in committee; verify with the municipal land-evidence records / an attorney

· Checked July 26, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island transfer-on-death deed page

Small-estate procedure

Current rule

$15,000 probate inventory; voluntary informal administrationVerified

Source: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 · Effective: current · Checked August 23, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island small-estate procedure page

Medicaid long-term-care eligibility

Medicaid dataset 2026.v16

Three-hundred-percent-of-SSI income limit

$2,982 per monthVerified

• Applies to: elder or adult with disabilities; medically needy pathway may apply above the figure.

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid LTSS Rules, 210-RICR-50-00-6 · Also: CMS 2026 SSI and January spousal-impoverishment standards · Effective: Effective July 27, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

LTSS resource limit

$4,000Verified

• Applies to: individual applicant, except the rule's ACA-expansion exception.

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid LTSS Rules, 210-RICR-50-00-6 · Effective: Effective July 27, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Community-spouse resource allowance

$32,532 minimum to $162,660 maximumVerified

• Applies to: one-half of combined countable resources.

Source: Rhode Island EOHHS Policy Transmittal 25-04 · Effective: Issued December 30, 2025; 2026 figures effective January 1, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Community-spouse minimum monthly maintenance-needs allowance

$2,705 per monthVerified

• Applies to: institutionalized applicant with a community spouse; allowable shelter expenses may increase the actual allowance.

Source: CMS 2026 minimum maintenance-needs standards · Also: Rhode Island EOHHS Policy Transmittal 25-04 · Effective: Minimum maintenance-needs amount effective July 1, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Community-spouse maximum monthly maintenance-needs allowance

$4,066.50 per monthVerified

• Applies to: institutionalized applicant with a community spouse.

Source: Rhode Island EOHHS Policy Transmittal 25-04 · Also: CMS 2026 SSI and January spousal-impoverishment standards · Effective: Issued December 30, 2025; 2026 figures effective January 1, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Home-equity limit

$752,000Verified

• Applies to: applicant subject to Rhode Island's minimum federal election.

Source: Rhode Island EOHHS Policy Transmittal 25-04 · Effective: Issued December 30, 2025; 2026 figures effective January 1, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island Medicaid eligibility page

Medicaid look-back

Medicaid dataset 2026.v16

Look-back period

60 months for covered transfers on or after February 8, 2006Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid LTSS Rules, 210-RICR-50-00-6 · Effective: Effective July 27, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Transfer-penalty divisor

$12,106 per month or $398 per day as of April 2026Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid LTSS Rules section 6.6 transfer divisor · Effective: Divisor figures marked as of April 2026 in the printable rule text · Checked September 5, 2026

How the state administers the penalty

Aggregate uncompensated value and divide by the current monthly or daily rate without rounding away partial-month penalties; multiple transfers are aggregated and the period begins under the rule's otherwise-eligible timing provisions.Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid LTSS Rules, 210-RICR-50-00-6 · Effective: Effective July 27, 2026 · Checked September 5, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island Medicaid look-back page

Medicaid estate recovery

Medicaid dataset 2026.v16

Recovery scope

Probate-only estate definition: property included or includable in probate; property passing outside probate by operation of law or contract is excluded. A death-time lien may attach even without an opened probate case.Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules, 210-RICR-10-00-4 · Effective: Effective January 4, 2022 · Checked September 5, 2026

Controlling authority

Rhode Island Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules, 210-RICR-10-00-4Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules, 210-RICR-10-00-4 · Effective: Effective January 4, 2022 · Checked September 5, 2026

Exemptions and deferrals

The rule provides statutory exceptions for a surviving spouse and a child under 21 or blind or disabled.Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules, 210-RICR-10-00-4 · Effective: Effective January 4, 2022 · Checked September 5, 2026

Hardship waiver

Hardship relief is postponement, not automatic cancellation, when sale of a home would be required and the qualifying heir meets the rule's residence-duration, income, and resource tests; circumstances are reviewed at least every two years.Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules, 210-RICR-10-00-4 · Effective: Effective January 4, 2022 · Checked September 5, 2026

Lien practice

No lien attaches during life. At death, a lien may attach to property included or includable in probate after notice and recording; EOHHS generally begins with an information letter and records a discharge after allowable payment or when inapplicable.Verified

Source: Rhode Island Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules, 210-RICR-10-00-4 · Effective: Effective January 4, 2022 · Checked September 5, 2026

Full detail: Rhode Island Medicaid estate-recovery page

State income tax on retirement income

Retirement-income tax dataset 2026.v4

Social Security benefits

Partly taxed or conditionalVerified

• Federally taxable Social Security may be subtracted when the taxpayer has reached full retirement age and meets the filing-status federal-AGI limit.
• The taxpayer must have reached full Social Security retirement age.
• Tax year 2025 federal-AGI eligibility limit.
• Tax year 2025 federal-AGI eligibility limit.

Source: 2025 RI-1040 Resident Return Instructions · Effective: tax year 2025 · Checked December 29, 2025

Public pensions

Exempt when conditions are metVerified

• Eligible taxable public pension or annuity income may receive Rhode Island's retirement-income modification.
• The taxpayer must have reached full Social Security retirement age.
• Tax year 2025 federal-AGI eligibility limit.
• Tax year 2025 federal-AGI eligibility limit.
• Each qualifying taxpayer may modify up to $50,000 of combined eligible pension and annuity income.
• The $50,000 limit is shared across that taxpayer's eligible public pension, private pension, 401(k), 403(b), and annuity income; it is not a separate cap for each category. Two qualifying spouses may together modify up to $100,000.

Source: 2025 RI-1040 Resident Return Instructions · Effective: tax year 2025 · Checked December 29, 2025

Private pensions

Exempt when conditions are metVerified

• Eligible taxable private pension or annuity income may receive Rhode Island's retirement-income modification.
• The taxpayer must have reached full Social Security retirement age.
• Tax year 2025 federal-AGI eligibility limit.
• Tax year 2025 federal-AGI eligibility limit.
• Each qualifying taxpayer may modify up to $50,000 of combined eligible pension and annuity income.
• The $50,000 limit is shared across that taxpayer's eligible public pension, private pension, 401(k), 403(b), and annuity income; it is not a separate cap for each category. Two qualifying spouses may together modify up to $100,000.

Source: 2025 RI-1040 Resident Return Instructions · Effective: tax year 2025 · Checked December 29, 2025

IRA and 401(k) distributions

Pending

The codified pension-and-annuity modification does not independently establish category-wide eligibility for nonperiodic IRA and 401(k) distributions.

Military retirement pay

ExemptVerified

• Military service pension benefits included in federal adjusted gross income may be subtracted.
• The payment must be a military service pension within the statutory definition.
• The subtraction cannot exceed the military service pension included in federal adjusted gross income.

Source: Rhode Island General Laws § 44-30-12 — Rhode Island income of a resident individual · Effective: tax year 2023

Full detail: Retirement-income tax dataset, all states (JSON)

About this page

This page assembles entries from datasets the site already publishes; it adds no figure of its own. Entries marked “Not yet verified” or “Pending” have no primary-source value in the underlying dataset yet. Rules change, so confirm anything you plan to act on with the source, the state agency, or a licensed attorney.

All states