R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-18-23

All persons making or permitting to be made any payment or transfer bona fide upon any official certificate of appointment of any executor, administrator, or guardian, issued by the probate court in respect of the estate of any deceased person or ward, shall be justified and held harmless in so doing, notwithstanding any defect or circumstance whatsoever affecting the validity of the appointment; provided, that the transfer of personal property, stock, or rights of action is not made within forty (40) days from an order or decree granting letters testamentary, of administration, or of guardianship, nor while an appeal is pending from an order or decree.