Filing Bankruptcy in Rhode Island: Means Test, Exemptions and Courts

Rhode Island has one federal bankruptcy court district: the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Rhode Island (https://www.rib.uscourts.gov/).

Median family income for Rhode Island: 1 person $77,653; 2 people $98,736; 3 people $119,419; 4 people $137,479; add $11,100 for each additional person beyond 4. These figures apply to bankruptcy cases filed on or after July 15, 2026.

Up to $500,000 in the land and buildings (or personal property used as a residence) that the owner or rightful possessor occupies or intends to occupy as a principal residence. The homestead is automatic; no declaration needs to be filed. Only one principal residence per family qualifies. It does not protect against taxes and municipal liens, debts contracted before the homestead was acquired, debts for the purchase of the home, family court support orders, Medicaid reimbursement liens, mortgages and mechanics' liens, or debts owed to federally insured deposit-taking institutions or entities regulated under Title 19. The statute sets no acreage limit.

Any and all motor vehicles owned by the debtor, up to a combined total of $12,000.

In addition to the other exemptions, a debtor in bankruptcy may exempt an additional $6,500 in any assets.

Exempt are traditional and Roth IRAs and individual retirement annuities (Internal Revenue Code sections 408 and 408A) and their payments or distributions, and a person's interest in an annuity, pension, profit-sharing or other retirement plan protected by ERISA, which the statute says also applies in federal bankruptcy as permitted by 11 U.S.C. 522(d)(10)(E). These exemptions do not apply against divorce or separate-maintenance orders or child support orders, to excess IRA contributions, or to contributions and earnings in plans that are not qualified under IRC section 401.

Most debtors can exempt only $50 of salary or wages due or payable. All wages are exempt for a debtor who has received public relief, for one year after the relief ends, and wages paid from charitable or public relief funds to a debtor receiving that relief are fully exempt. Wages of the debtor's wife and minor children, and wages due to any sailor, are also exempt.

Rhode Island has one bankruptcy district. The court's 'Don't Have an Attorney' page lists a free bankruptcy legal clinic, a self-help manual, mandatory credit counseling information, a creditor list program, debtor electronic noticing, debtor FAQs, bankruptcy and meeting-of-creditors videos, and complete petition form packages for chapter 7 and chapter 13 (including the chapter 13 plan). Self-represented parties can file through an Electronic Drop Box: new petitions are emailed to the clerk with a copy of a government-issued photo ID and an Application for Access to Electronic Drop Box and Declaration Regarding Electronic Filing, and the original signed application must be mailed or hand-delivered within 14 days of approval (Local Bankruptcy Rule 5001-2(c)(2)). Self-represented debtors pay fees by bank debit card or ACH online or by mail; since July 21, 2025 cash is generally not accepted.

District of Rhode Island (the state's only bankruptcy district): Appendix III to the Local Bankruptcy Rules, District of Rhode Island Maximum Attorney Fee Without Written Fee Application (amended 12/1/19; rule book amended as of December 1, 2024), provides that under R.I. LBR 2017-1 a detailed fee application is required within 60 days after the section 341 meeting whenever the fee for an attorney for a chapter 13 debtor exceeds $4,000, plus $1,000 for post confirmation work, and $3,000 for services in connection with loss mitigation. Appendix III states these amounts only establish when a fee application must be filed, are not minimum fees, and that all fees remain subject to court approval (the court may require applications even below these amounts).