Probate in Kentucky: A Complete Guide

Kentucky probate is handled in each county's District Court. Two things make Kentucky unusual: it's one of only five states that still imposes a direct inheritance tax, and as of July 15, 2026, it just enacted the biggest rewrite of its intestate succession law in a generation. If your loved one died without a will, the rules that apply are almost certainly not the ones your search results from a year ago describe. This guide walks through every option.

Does Kentucky Always Require Probate?

No. Assets that pass outside of probate include those held in a revocable living trust, real estate transferred by a Transfer-on-Death Deed under Kentucky's Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (KRS 394B.010–394B.170, in effect since 2020), accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations, life insurance and retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, joint tenancy property with right of survivorship, and — for spouses — tenancy by the entirety.

One important wrinkle since July 15, 2026: several of these "non-probate" assets (beneficiary-designated accounts, TOD/POD property, jointly held property, and property in a revocable trust) can now be pulled back into a surviving spouse's dower/curtesy claim under KRS 392.020. They still avoid probate, but they're no longer automatically outside a spouse's statutory reach — see the intestacy section below.

Small Estate: Dispense with Administration ($30,000)

For smaller or debt-free estates, Kentucky's District Court can "Dispense with Administration" under KRS 395.450–395.470, commonly applied where the estate's personal property does not exceed roughly $30,000 — a threshold tied to the exempt-property set-aside for a surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse, the children, under KRS 391.030. Under this procedure, the court awards personal property directly to the spouse, children, or certain preferred creditors without ever appointing a personal representative. KRS 391.030 also provides a separate, smaller $2,500 emergency bank-withdrawal allowance a spouse or family member can access while the full set-aside is being processed. Real property generally isn't covered by this procedure.

A related change since July 15, 2026: if a full administration is opened and it later turns out the estate didn't need it, the personal representative can now dispense with administration after the fact — a new option that didn't exist before SB 50.

How to Open Probate in Kentucky

1. File a Petition for Probate of Will and Appointment of Executor (or Petition for Appointment of Administrator if there's no will) in the District Court of the county where the deceased was domiciled.
2. Bring the original will, a certified death certificate, and a list of heirs.
3. As of July 15, 2026, a court hearing is no longer automatically required. If the petition and supporting paperwork are complete, the District Court can appoint the personal representative without a hearing. The court can still schedule one if the filing is incomplete or contested — previously, a hearing (typically 2–4 weeks after filing) was the default step.
4. Once appointed, the District Court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration.

Kentucky's Inheritance Tax — The Critical Planning Issue

Kentucky is one of just five states that still directly taxes inheritances (alongside Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), and it has no separate estate tax. The tax is based on the relationship between the deceased and each beneficiary and is paid by the recipient (or the estate on the recipient's behalf), under KRS 140.070 and 140.080.

• Class A — fully exempt: Surviving spouse, children (including legally adopted), grandchildren, parents, siblings, and half-siblings. No inheritance tax.
• Class B — graduated rates 4% to 16%: Nieces, nephews, half-nieces/nephews, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, aunts, uncles, and great-grandchildren. First $1,000 exempt; rates climb with the size of the bequest.
• Class C — graduated rates 6% to 16%: Everyone else, including cousins, friends, unmarried partners, and unrelated individuals. First $500 exempt; rates climb with the size of the bequest.

The Kentucky Inheritance Tax Return is due 18 months after death for taxable estates, with a 5% discount if the tax is paid within 9 months. Estates owing more than $5,000 can elect a 10-year installment plan, with the first installment due at the 18-month mark.

Creditor Claims in Kentucky

Under KRS 396.011, creditors generally have 6 months from the appointment of the personal representative to present claims, and notice to known creditors plus publication of a Notice to Creditors is required. If no personal representative is ever appointed — for example, in a dispense-with-administration case — creditors instead have 2 years from the date of death. Claims filed after the applicable period are generally barred.

Kentucky Intestacy: The New Rules (Effective July 15, 2026)

This is the single biggest change in Kentucky probate in a generation. Senate Bill 50 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134) rewrote KRS 391.010 for every death on or after July 15, 2026 — which, since that date has already passed, means essentially all deaths going forward.

The new spousal share depends on whether the decedent's descendants are also the surviving spouse's descendants — a distinction Kentucky's old dower-and-curtesy formula never made:

• No descendants at all, or every surviving descendant is also the spouse's: the spouse takes the entire estate.
• At least one descendant is not the spouse's (a blended-family situation), or the spouse has a descendant who isn't the decedent's: the spouse's share drops to one-half, with the other half passing to the decedent's descendants.

Whatever doesn't pass to the spouse under this rule descends to the decedent's children and their descendants; if none survive, to parents; if none survive, to siblings and their descendants; then splits between paternal and maternal kindred — grandparents, then aunts/uncles and their descendants — and, as a new addition under the 2026 reform, stepchildren are now included as a late-priority category before the estate would otherwise escheat to the state.

Separately, KRS 392.020 still uses the terms "dower" and "curtesy," but its role has narrowed and changed. On top of the KRS 391.010 share above, a surviving spouse also receives a life estate (not outright ownership) in one-third of any real estate the decedent held during the marriage but no longer owned at death, plus an absolute one-half share of the decedent's "surplus personalty" — a newly and dramatically expanded category that now reaches beneficiary-designated, transfer-on-death, and payable-on-death property (including retirement accounts), jointly held property with right of survivorship, property in a trust the decedent could revoke, and property transferred within two years of death.

Spousal and Family Allowances

Kentucky provides allowances paid before most creditors: the KRS 391.030 exempt-property set-aside described above ($30,000 in cash or personal property, plus the $2,500 emergency withdrawal), and the surviving spouse's dower/curtesy interest in the deceased's real property under KRS 392.020.