Rhode Island lady bird deed

What a life estate deed with enhanced powers does in Rhode Island

A lady bird deed, formally an enhanced life estate deed, reserves a life estate for you while keeping the power to sell, mortgage, lease, or take the property back without your remainder beneficiary's signature. That retained power is what makes it 'enhanced'. At your death the property passes directly to the remainder beneficiaries outside probate. Florida, Texas, Michigan, Rhode Island, Vermont, and West Virginia recognize it, and Maryland, Missouri and Virginia recognize the same idea as a life estate deed with powers.

In Rhode Island the governing statute is R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-4-2.1. It lets you deed your home to the people you choose while reserving a life estate, coupled with the power during your lifetime to sell, convey, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of it without their consent or signature. A deed or mortgage you sign under those powers passes good title, free of their interest, once it is recorded. Deedly drafts the reservation in the statute's own words. Rhode Island enacted it in 2014 together with a Medicaid rule that counts a home held this way against long-term care Medicaid (R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-8-3.1), so it is not a Medicaid planning tool here.

The Rhode Island law behind this deed

Start with R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-4-2.1 if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.

When Rhode Island property owners use a life estate deed with enhanced powers

• Avoid probate on your home while keeping the power to sell it, mortgage it, or change your mind
• Leave your home to the people you choose in a state with no transfer-on-death deed
• Keep the federal step-up in basis for the people you name
• Estate planning where a traditional life estate would give away too much control

What Rhode Island requires on the deed

Rhode Island has no statewide format statute. Deedly leaves a 3-inch space at the top of page one for the clerk's stamp, and some town clerks add their own rules: Smithfield, for example, wants a 2 x 2 inch blank space on the last page. A city or town clerk may refuse a deed that does not give the grantee's address or, for a sale, the price (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 34-11-1.2, 34-11-1.4).

How to complete and record it in Rhode Island

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the City or Town Clerk or Recorder of Deeds (Land Evidence Records) can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Rhode Island deeds.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
5. 5Record it with the City or Town Clerk or Recorder of Deeds (Land Evidence Records)File in the town where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
6. 6Tell the people you named where it isAt your death they record an affidavit stating the date of your death (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-1(11)), with a certified death certificate if the clerk asks for one, to show that your life estate has ended. Ask your insurer whether they should be added to the policy now.

What it costs in Rhode Island

Rhode Island charges a real estate conveyance tax of $3.75 per $500 of consideration, plus $3.75 per $500 on residential consideration above $824,000 (2026). Customarily paid by the grantor. Rhode Island has no separate exemption for transfers between spouses or into or out of a trust: they are untaxed only when $100 or less is paid for the property. The taxable amount includes any mortgage or lien that remains on the property (R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1(a)), so ask the clerk before recording a transfer of mortgaged property. The tax is paid by buying documentary stamps from the city or town clerk when the deed is recorded (§ 44-25-3). In New Shoreham (Block Island) the buyer also pays the Block Island Land Trust a fee of 3% of the purchase price, and Land Trust forms go with every deed.

Exemptions that commonly apply to a transfer like this: deeds for which $100 or less is paid, including a true gift (when nothing is paid, the deed must state that the consideration is such that no documentary stamps are required), mortgages and other instruments given to secure a debt, and deeds from the United States, the State of Rhode Island, or a Rhode Island city or town. Rhode Island has no exemption form. A deed for which nothing is paid must itself state that the consideration is such that no documentary stamps are required (R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1(c)). Deedly prints that statement on every gift and life estate deed, and on any deed where you chose "Nothing is being paid (a gift)".

Where to record it in Rhode Island

Rhode Island deeds are recorded with the City or Town Clerk or Recorder of Deeds (Land Evidence Records) in the town where the property sits, not where you live. There are 39 towns in Rhode Island.

Many Rhode Island recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your town's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Rhode Island: Providence, Cranston, Warwick, Pawtucket, East Providence, Woonsocket, New Shoreham. See all Rhode Island recording offices.

What a life estate deed with enhanced powers does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• In Rhode Island this is not a Medicaid planning tool. While you hold it on the home you live in, the state does not treat the home as exempt and treats you as ineligible for long-term care Medicaid until you deed the property back to yourself (R.I. Gen. Laws § 40-8-3.1; 210-RICR-50-00-6, § 6.9.1).
• Rhode Island's statute does not say how this deed affects creditors, or the divorce or bankruptcy of a person you name. Do not rely on it to protect the property from anyone's creditors.
• The home still counts in your estate for Rhode Island estate tax, which applies to net taxable estates over $1,838,056 for deaths in 2026 (R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1; Division of Taxation ADV 2025-27). For the same reason, the people you name generally take a federal income tax basis equal to the home's value at your death (26 U.S.C. §§ 1014(b)(9), 2036(a)).
• If a person you name dies before you and you named no alternate, that person's share generally passes with their estate, not to the others. Record a new deed if that happens.
• It does not remove or restructure a mortgage. The loan stays in your name and on the property.
• It is a specialized instrument. If your estate is large, taxable, or contested, this is a conversation for an attorney rather than a form.

Quirks of Rhode Island law that catch people out

• Rhode Island records deeds in the land evidence records of the city or town where the property lies: the Recorder of Deeds in Providence, the city or town clerk everywhere else. There are 39 separate offices and no county recording.
• A deed for a sale must state the total dollar amount of the actual sale, and the clerk may refuse one that does not (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-11-1.4). A deed for which nothing is paid must state that the consideration is such that no documentary stamps are required (§ 44-25-1(c)).
• Every deed must give the grantee's name and residence or mailing address, or the clerk may refuse it (R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-11-1.2).
• Rhode Island's real estate conveyance tax is $3.75 for each $500 (or part of $500) of the price when more than $100 is paid. For residential property, an additional $3.75 per $500 applies to the part of the price above $824,000 (the 2026 threshold, adjusted each January). The seller pays unless the parties agree otherwise (R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1).
• Rhode Island does not recognize transfer-on-death deeds.
• Tenancy by the entirety is available for married couples.