Persons having claims against the plaintiff may be joined as defendants and required to interplead when their claims are such that the plaintiff is or may be exposed to double or multiple liability. It is not ground for objection to the joinder that the claims of the several claimants or the titles on which their claims depend do not have a common origin or are not identical but are adverse to and independent of one another, or that the plaintiff avers that the plaintiff is not liable in whole or in part to any or all of the claimants. A defendant exposed to similar liability may obtain such interpleader by way of cross-claim or counterclaim. The provisions of this rule supplement and do not in any way limit the joinder of parties permitted in Rule 20.
Rule 22.Interpleader.
Current through February 2024 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 22 lets someone facing rival claims to the same money or property force all the competing claimants into one lawsuit, so a court can sort out who is entitled to what without the risk of paying twice.
Full Text of Rule 22
Amendment History
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Plain-English Summary
Interpleader solves a specific problem: someone (often called a stakeholder) holds money or property that two or more people claim, and paying the wrong claimant could expose the stakeholder to being sued twice for the same thing. Rule 22 lets that person join all the rival claimants as defendants in one action and make them fight out who is entitled to the fund between themselves.
The rule removes some old obstacles to interpleader. The competing claims do not need to share a common origin or rest on identical legal theories — they can be entirely independent of and adverse to each other. The plaintiff can also bring the action while denying liability to some or all of the claimants; interpleader does not require the plaintiff to admit owing anything.
A defendant already in a lawsuit who faces the same kind of double-exposure risk can raise interpleader too, through a cross-claim or counterclaim rather than starting a new case. The rule closes by noting that it works alongside Rule 20's party-joinder provisions and does not cut back on what that rule allows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is interpleader for?
It lets someone who holds a fund, property, or obligation that multiple people claim bring all those claimants into one lawsuit, so a court can decide who is entitled to it instead of the stakeholder risking separate lawsuits and double payment.
Do the competing claims have to be related to each other?
No. Rule 22 lets interpleader proceed even when the claimants' claims, or the titles behind them, share no common origin, are not identical, and are adverse to and independent of one another.
Can a defendant already in a lawsuit use interpleader?
Yes. A defendant facing the same kind of double-liability exposure can obtain interpleader through a cross-claim or counterclaim rather than filing a separate action, and Rule 22 works alongside — not instead of — the party-joinder rule in Rule 20.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Rhode Island Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure (R.I. Super. Ct. R. Civ. P. 22). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-6-2). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: interpleaderconflicting claims to the same fundstakeholder lawsuitdouble liability lawsuitwho gets the money interpleadercross-claim interpleadermultiple claimants to same debt