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Kentucky estate administration

Kentucky probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines

Small-estate limit: $30,000

This guide explains probate in Kentucky: Kentucky can dispense with administration entirely (KRS 395.455) when the surviving-spouse/children exemption (KRS 391.030, $30,000 of personal property) plus preferred claims cover the estate, in the District Court. Executor compensation is capped at 5% of the personal estate plus 5% of income collected (KRS 395.150). The county-clerk recording fee for a will is $33.00 (KRS 64.012); the District Court opening cost itself is not stated in that schedule and is published as UNKNOWN.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

Answer first

Kentucky simplified probate route

Kentucky does not use a single dollar-capped small-estate affidavit; two distinct mechanisms interact. (1) Surviving spouse/children exemption (KRS 391.030): personal property or money on hand or in a bank or other depository up to thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) is exempt and passes to the surviving spouse, or if none to the surviving children — a set-aside, not a whole-estate procedure. (2) Dispensing with administration (KRS 395.455): a SEPARATE court order. Where the exemption for the surviving spouse or children under KRS 391.030, alone or together with preferred claims, equals or exceeds the amount of distributable assets, the court may order that administration of the estate be dispensed with and the assets transferred to the surviving spouse or children (or to a preferred creditor who paid preferred claims). The $30,000 figure is the KRS 391.030 exemption that drives the § 395.455 arithmetic; it is not itself a filing threshold. The relevant base is personal property/money on hand or in a bank.

Surviving-spouse/children $30,000 exemption (KRS 391.030); dispensing with administration when exemption plus preferred claims cover the estate (KRS 395.455)
1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

Kentucky estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeSet locallyKRS 64.012 is a statewide statutory schedule of county-clerk fees; recording a will or other probate document of five pages or fewer is $33.00. This is a recording fee, not the District Court opening cost, so the court filing fee proper is published as UNKNOWN.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.KRS 395.150 caps the personal representative’s compensation at five percent (5%) of the value of the personal estate of the decedent, PLUS five percent (5%) of the income collected. The base is the personal estate (plus income collected), not real property.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the reviewed rules establish

Simplified route

$30,000

Kentucky does not use a single dollar-capped small-estate affidavit; two distinct mechanisms interact. (1) Surviving spouse/children exemption (KRS 391.030): personal property or money on hand or in a bank or other depository up to thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) is exempt and passes to the surviving spouse, or if none to the surviving children — a set-aside, not a whole-estate procedure. (2) Dispensing with administration (KRS 395.455): a SEPARATE court order. Where the exemption for the surviving spouse or children under KRS 391.030, alone or together with preferred claims, equals or exceeds the amount of distributable assets, the court may order that administration of the estate be dispensed with and the assets transferred to the surviving spouse or children (or to a preferred creditor who paid preferred claims). The $30,000 figure is the KRS 391.030 exemption that drives the § 395.455 arithmetic; it is not itself a filing threshold. The relevant base is personal property/money on hand or in a bank.

Eligibility and caveats

Court cost

Varies locally

KRS 64.012 is a statewide statutory schedule of county-clerk fees; recording a will or other probate document of five pages or fewer is $33.00. This is a recording fee, not the District Court opening cost, so the court filing fee proper is published as UNKNOWN.

Filing-cost detail

Executor compensation

Court-reviewed

KRS 395.150 caps the personal representative’s compensation at five percent (5%) of the value of the personal estate of the decedent, PLUS five percent (5%) of the income collected. The base is the personal estate (plus income collected), not real property.

Compensation detail

Creditor deadline

Multiple triggers

KRS 396.011 sets Kentucky's non-claim bar as one clock keyed to appointment: all pre-death claims are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees unless presented within six (6) months after the appointment of the personal representative, or where no personal representative has been appointed, within two (2) years after the decedent's death. Both periods are stated in months/years, so they are carried as descriptions rather than fixed day counts; the six-month period runs from appointment, and the two-year period is the outer bar when no representative is ever appointed.

KRS 396.011 (Kentucky Legislature (Kentucky Revised Statutes); reviewed August 9, 2026)

Timeline and creditor details

Statutes read in full for Kentucky

These are the Kentucky provisions read end to end on the enacting state’s own site, rather than summarised from a secondary source. The middle column is what reading each one actually established for Kentucky — not a restatement of the topic — and the last column records the date the wording was read, so a later amendment can be spotted by comparing dates.

CitationWhat reading it establishedRead on
KRS 64.012Kentucky prices a will by the page, and exempts it from the surcharge — court and filing cost note2026-09-17
KRS 395.455, 395.470Kentucky has no small-estate dollar ceiling — it dispenses with administration instead — small estate route note2026-09-17
KRS 395.150Kentucky’s 5% rule has stood unamended since 1942, and it taxes income separately — representative pay note2026-09-17

Kentucky decision map

The four facts that change the Kentucky route

Use this map before opening a form or entering a number. It keeps the Kentucky amount test, time gate, court cost, and creditor record separate so one easy figure does not stand in for the whole administration.

QuestionRecorded Kentucky answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Surviving-spouse/children $30,000 exemption (KRS 391.030); dispensing with administration when exemption plus preferred claims cover the estate (KRS 395.455)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$30,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; KRS 396.011 sets Kentucky's non-claim bar as one clock keyed to appointment: all pre-death claims are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees unless presented within six (6) months after the appointment of the personal representative, or where no personal representative has been appointed, within two (2) years after the decedent's death. Both periods are stated in months/years, so they are carried as descriptions rather than fixed day counts; the six-month period runs from appointment, and the two-year period is the outer bar when no representative is ever appointed.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule.Ask the District Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?KRS 395.150 caps the personal representative’s compensation at five percent (5%) of the value of the personal estate of the decedent, PLUS five percent (5%) of the income collected. The base is the personal estate (plus income collected), not real property. The relevant base is gross probate property.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Kentucky amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Kentucky ceiling is $30,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $22,500 sits below the Kentucky figure and $37,500 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Kentucky counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Kentucky ceilingWhat it does not decide
$22,500Below $30,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$37,500Above $30,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Start with the row that is still unknown, then take that question to the named court or source.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Kentucky publishes no court artifact in this registry. Probate in Kentucky is heard in the District Court. The Kentucky Court of Justice self-help/forms site (kycourts.gov) could NOT be pinned under the HTTP-200 rule: automated requests are intercepted by a WAF that returns 403 (no browser headers) or a 302 challenge/404 (with browser headers), never a clean 200. A human must add the kycourts.gov Legal Forms / self-help links. The only stably-reachable official Kentucky resource verified at HTTP 200 is the Legislature’s statute portal (apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/), which is the primary-law source rather than a court forms hub.

Probate in Kentucky is heard in the District Court. The Kentucky Court of Justice self-help/forms site (kycourts.gov) could NOT be pinned under the HTTP-200 rule: automated requests are intercepted by a WAF that returns 403 (no browser headers) or a 302 challenge/404 (with browser headers), never a clean 200. A human must add the kycourts.gov Legal Forms / self-help links. The only stably-reachable official Kentucky resource verified at HTTP 200 is the Legislature’s statute portal (apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/), which is the primary-law source rather than a court forms hub.

Source trail

Records used by this Kentucky map

  • KRS 395.455KRS 395.455 — Transfer of assets without administration; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • KRS 391.030KRS 391.030 — Descent of personal property; exemption; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • KRS 395.150KRS 395.150 — Compensation of representatives; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • KRS 64.012KRS 64.012 — Fees of county clerks; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • KRS 396.011KRS 396.011 — Presentation of claims against estate; time limitations; exceptions; reviewed August 9, 2026

Limits and unresolved costs

  • Filing fee: KRS 64.012 gives only the county-clerk RECORDING fee ($33); the actual District Court estate-opening cost is not in that schedule and remains UNKNOWN — do not present $33 as the court filing fee.
  • Creditor non-claim period now sourced from KRS 396.011: six months after appointment of the personal representative, or two years after death where none is appointed. Periods are stated in months/years and carried as descriptions, not fixed day counts.
  • No HTTP-200 court-resource URL for Kentucky (kycourts.gov WAF); a human must add it.
  • Attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, certified copies, tax work, and asset-sale costs are not included unless expressly shown.
  • Asset title, beneficiary designations, creditor claims, and will terms can change the route.
Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

Continue

What Kentucky courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

No Kentucky court document is linked here. The notes below state why, rather than leaving the absence unexplained.

Limits on court material

  • Probate in Kentucky is heard in the District Court. The Kentucky Court of Justice self-help/forms site (kycourts.gov) could NOT be pinned under the HTTP-200 rule: automated requests are intercepted by a WAF that returns 403 (no browser headers) or a 302 challenge/404 (with browser headers), never a clean 200. A human must add the kycourts.gov Legal Forms / self-help links. The only stably-reachable official Kentucky resource verified at HTTP 200 is the Legislature’s statute portal (apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/), which is the primary-law source rather than a court forms hub.

Primary sources

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.