Probate in Kentucky: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

If someone dies owning property in Kentucky, probate is generally the next step unless one of a few exceptions applies. The rules of intestate succession (what it’s called when someone dies without a will) apply at that time.  

These asset types generally pass outside of probate.

• When life insurance policies and retirement accounts have a designated beneficiary.

• When bank or brokerage accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation.

• When you own property jointly with right of survivorship.

If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in Kentucky. If the estate is valued at $30,000 or less, excluding certain exempt property, surviving family members might be able to use a small estate affidavit instead of full administration.

Succession Laws Without a Will in Kentucky

Who inherits in Kentucky depends first on how the law classifies what a couple owns. Kentucky is a common law property state which means that if a person is named on a title, deed, or account, ownership is automatically transferred to those designated at the time of death. A major reform took effect July 15, 2026, amending the state's old dower-and-curtesy-based spousal share, though dower and curtesy weren't eliminated, they still apply to personal property alongside the new real estate rules below.

If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed as follows.

Real estate you own at death:

• If you have no descendants, or every surviving descendant is also a descendant of your spouse, your spouse inherits the entirety.

• If either you or your spouse has a descendant from outside the marriage, your spouse inherits 1/2. Your descendants inherit the other 1/2.

Personal property:

• Your spouse inherits an absolute 1/2 of your "surplus personalty" — which now includes most beneficiary-designated, payable-on-death, and jointly-owned assets, along with certain trust property — regardless of whether your descendants are shared.

• You children divide everything equally if you don’t have a living spouse.

• If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit everything.

• When no living spouse, children, or parents can be identified, your siblings inherit everything.

Kentucky Probate Process

Kentucky probate is handled by the District Court in the county where the deceased lived, and Kentucky Revised Statute 395.190 requires the estate to stay open at least six months. Kentucky is also one of only a handful of states that still taxes inheritances directly, with close relatives exempt and more distant beneficiaries taxed on a sliding scale.

Avoiding Probate in Kentucky

Probate can be slow and public, which is why many people plan around it. Here's how.

• Choose to put your assets in a revocable living trust granting your full control of your estate as trustee and identifying a successor trustee who will manage distributing your assets after your death.

• Take the time to name beneficiaries on your financial and retirement account to determine who will inherit upon your death.  

• Set up joint ownership with right of survivorship on property to identify who become the new owner at the time of your death.  

Want to learn more about trusts in Kentucky? Discover what is required for a trust.