Rhode Island: Affidavit of Surviving Joint Tenant Title-Clearance Requirements

Requirements one by one

A broad family-facts affidavit, not a survivor form

Rhode Island General Laws § 34-13-1(11) makes recordable every affidavit of
family facts—including dates of birth, marriage, and death—that relates or
purports to relate to land title. The route is broader than joint tenancy and
does not call the instrument an affidavit of surviving joint tenant.

The section's opening sentence says the town clerk or recorder of deeds records
an eligible instrument on request of any person and payment of lawful fees. That
identifies who may present the affidavit, not who must make it. Subsection (11)
does not limit the affiant to a survivor, personal representative, relative, or
person with a stated relationship to the property.

The same provision states no required deed reference, book and page, legal
description, survivor identity, no-severance statement, or requested title
update. It also does not require an original or certified death certificate,
court order, witnesses, a separate deed-style acknowledgment, or filing within
a stated number of days or months.

The creating instrument still controls

The affidavit documents a death fact; it does not create survivorship. Under §
34-3-1, a gift, conveyance, devise, or legacy to two or more people—including a
husband and wife—creates tenancy in common unless the instrument declares joint
tenancy, runs to the people and their survivor, or otherwise manifestly shows
an intent to create joint tenancy.

Recording effect

R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-2 makes a filing under § 34-13-1 constructive notice to
all persons of the recorded contents, but only “so far as they are genuine.”
That qualification matters: recording gives notice of the affidavit's contents
without making every recital conclusive or guaranteeing title.

What trips people up

Any person may request recording, but the statute does not say any person may
swear to any fact. The presenter rule should not be turned into an unlimited
affiant-eligibility rule.

A certified death certificate is not a statutory attachment. It may be
requested as a matter of municipal or title practice, but § 34-13-1(11) does
not make it part of the statewide affidavit package.

Constructive notice is conditional. Section 34-13-2 preserves the phrase
“so far as they are genuine”; the statute does not label the affidavit prima-
facie or conclusive proof and does not promise marketable or insured title.

Common questions

Where is the affidavit recorded? With the town clerk or recorder of deeds,
not a county recorder.

Must the surviving joint tenant be the affiant? Section 34-13-1 states no
affiant class. It separately says any person may request recording.

Is there a statewide deadline after death? Sections 34-13-1 and 34-13-2
state none.

Statutes and sources

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-3-1 — tenancy-in-common default and express joint-
  tenancy or survivorship language. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-3/34-3-1.htm
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-1 — eligible family-facts affidavits, municipal
  recording office, and presenter rule. https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13/34-13-1.htm
  (accessed 2026-08-03).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-2 — conditional constructive-notice effect.
  https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13/34-13-2.htm
  (accessed 2026-08-03).