§ 9-9-18.Commencement or continuation of proceedings upon death or incompetency of party

Arbitration agreements do not expire just because one of the people who signed them dies or loses capacity. This section keeps the proceeding alive by substituting the right person to stand in for the original party.

Who that substitute is turns on who is handling the party’s affairs, not on whether the party died or became incompetent. The statute lists the executor, administrator, trustee, or guardian as alternatives, and any one of them can step in if that person is the one managing the affairs in question. When the dispute involves real property, the statute adds another option — the distributee or devisee who inherited the deceased party’s interest in that property can step into the proceeding instead. The arbitration can begin or continue either on that substitute’s own application or after notice to them, so the process does not need the substitute’s active initiative to move forward.

Because death or incompetency can throw off the careful deadlines built into the rest of this part — the 30 days to demand a stay, the three months to seek vacation or modification, the one year to confirm — this section gives the court room to extend those deadlines when a party dies or becomes incompetent. And if death occurs after the award has already been delivered, the statute treats the situation the way it would treat a party’s death after a jury verdict, folding arbitration into the same familiar framework courts already use for that circumstance.