Kentucky Will and Trust Laws: Handwritten Wills, E-Wills (2026)

A Kentucky will must be in writing with the testator's name subscribed by the testator, or by another person in the testator's presence and by his or her direction (KRS 394.040). Unless the will is wholly written by the testator, the testator must sign or acknowledge it in the presence of at least two credible witnesses, who sign in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other; any person of sound mind and 18 or older may make one (KRS 394.020). Revocable living trusts are governed by the Kentucky Uniform Trust Code, KRS Chapter 386B, in force since July 15, 2014.

Three features set Kentucky apart among the wills and trusts laws by state. A will written entirely in the testator's own hand needs no witnesses. The witnesses to any other will must sign in each other's presence as well as the testator's. And a 2026 law, Senate Bill 50 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134), added electronic wills, with witnessing by real-time video, for people who die on or after July 15, 2026.

Information last verified on 2026-10-20. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Kentucky statutes on making, signing, changing and revoking wills (KRS Chapter 394, including the electronic-wills sections), the surviving spouse's right to renounce a will (KRS Chapter 392), and revocable living trusts under the Kentucky Uniform Trust Code (KRS Chapter 386B). It does not cover what happens when someone dies without a will or how estate administration works (see Kentucky probate), small-estate procedures (see the Kentucky small estate affidavit page), powers of attorney (see Kentucky power of attorney laws), or taxes. A living will is a health-care directive, not a will; see the Kentucky advance directive tool.

What makes a will valid in Kentucky?

Age and capacity

Under KRS 394.020, "Any person of sound mind and eighteen (18) years of age or over may by will dispose of any estate, right, or interest in real or personal estate that he may be entitled to at his death." Section 394.030 states the other side of the rule: "No person under eighteen (18) years of age can make any will, except in pursuance of a power specially given to that effect, and except also, that a parent, though under eighteen (18) years of age, may by will appoint a guardian for his child."

Writing, signature and witnesses

Section 394.040 is the controlling rule:

"No will is valid unless it is in writing with the name of the testator subscribed thereto by himself, or by some other person in his presence and by his direction. If the will is not wholly written by the testator, the subscription shall be made or the will acknowledged by him in the presence of at least two (2) credible witnesses, who shall subscribe the will with their names in the presence of the testator, and in the presence of each other." (KRS 394.040)

For a will that is not wholly in the testator's handwriting, that means:

• Writing and subscription. The testator's name is subscribed by the testator, or by someone else in the testator's presence and at his or her direction.
• Two credible witnesses. The testator signs, or acknowledges the will, in their presence.
• Signing together. Each witness subscribes "in the presence of the testator, and in the presence of each other." Witnesses who sign at different times out of each other's presence do not meet the statute.

Section 394.040 contains no notary requirement.

Witnesses who receive a gift under the will

A beneficiary can serve as a witness, at a cost. Under KRS 394.210(2), if a will is attested by a person to whom, or to whose spouse, any beneficial interest is given, "and the will cannot otherwise be proved, such person shall be deemed a competent witness; but such devise or bequest shall be void, unless such witness would be entitled to a share of the estate of the testator if the will were not established, in which case he shall receive so much of his share as does not exceed the value of that devised or bequeathed."

Two related rules in the same section: a witness's later incompetency does not invalidate the will (394.210(1)), and a will "may be proved by the testimony of one (1) of the subscribing witnesses without regard to the availability or competency of the other witnesses, provided said will was acknowledged or subscribed by the testator in the presence of two (2) witnesses at the same time" (394.210(3)).

Wills of people who lived in another state

Under KRS 394.120, "The will of a person domiciled out of this state at the time of his death shall be valid as to his personal property and his real property in this state, if it is executed according to the law of the place where he was domiciled." The section speaks only of the place of domicile at death.

Are handwritten (holographic) wills valid in Kentucky?

Yes. The witness requirement in KRS 394.040 applies only "If the will is not wholly written by the testator." A will that is wholly in the testator's own handwriting, in writing, with the testator's name subscribed, meets section 394.040 without any witness.

The condition is "wholly written." A typed or printed will, including a fill-in form, is not wholly written by the testator; it needs the two credible witnesses described above.

Does a Kentucky will need to be notarized? The self-proving affidavit

No. A notary is not part of section 394.040. Notarization comes in through the optional self-proving procedure in KRS 394.225:

"Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of this state and evidenced by the officer's certificate, in substantially the following form:" (KRS 394.225(1))

An attested will may also be made self-proved "at any time subsequent to its execution," by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths, with the officer's certificate attached or annexed to the will (394.225(2)).

The statute supplies the form; this page does not reproduce it. The effect is in 394.225(4): "A self-proved will may be admitted to probate without the testimony of any subscribing witness, but otherwise treated no differently from a will not self-proved." Probate procedure is covered on the Kentucky probate page.

Are oral (nuncupative) wills valid in Kentucky?

No. Section 394.040 begins "No will is valid unless it is in writing," and Chapter 394 contains no section that makes an exception for a spoken will.

Electronic wills and remote witnessing

Kentucky enacted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act as KRS 394.700 to 394.715 through Senate Bill 50 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134). The sections carry an effective date of July 15, 2026, and their reach is set by KRS 394.715:

"KRS 394.700 to 394.715 shall apply to the will of a decedent who dies on or after July 15, 2026." (KRS 394.715)

The trigger is the date of death, not the date of signing. The electronic-wills sections do not apply to the will of someone who died before July 15, 2026.

Expired 2020-2022 video rule

During the COVID-19 state of emergency, 2020 Senate Bill 150 (2020 Ky. Acts ch. 73, signed by the Governor March 30, 2020) provided that, for any law requiring a witness's signature or the acknowledgment or notarization of a document, individuals "not in the same physical location shall be considered in the presence of one another if the individuals can communicate via a video teleconference in real time to the same extent as if they were physically present in the same location," and that the resulting document could be executed in counterparts. Senate Joint Resolution 150 (2022 Ky. Acts ch. 22), which became law over the Governor's veto on March 22, 2022, terminated the emergency and all "suspensions of statutes, and other directives" relying on it. That rule does not apply to a will signed today.

Remote notarization

Since January 1, 2020, KRS 423.455 lets a notary public located in Kentucky perform a notarial act for a remotely located individual by communication technology, with an audio-visual recording kept for at least ten years. That section governs the notary's act. For a paper will, the witnesses are a separate requirement: section 394.040 still has them subscribe in the presence of the testator and of each other.

What an electronic will requires

Under KRS 394.706(1), an electronic will must be:

• A text record. "A record that is readable as text at the time of signing."
• Signed by the testator, or by "Another individual in the testator's name, in the testator's physical presence, and by the testator's direction." A proxy signer must be physically with the testator.
• Signed by two witnesses "in the physical or electronic presence of the testator by at least two (2) individuals, each of whom is a resident of this Commonwealth and physically located in this Commonwealth at the time of signing and within a reasonable time after witnessing" the testator's signing or acknowledgment.

"Electronic presence" means "the relationship of two (2) or more individuals in different locations communicating in real time to the same extent as if the individuals were physically present in the same location" (KRS 394.700(2)). So a witness may watch by live video, but the witness must live in Kentucky and be in Kentucky when signing.

Two more rules in 394.706: an electronic signature "shall consist of an electronic image of the testator's or witness's signature in his or her handwriting affixed to the electronic will" (394.706(2)), and the testator's intent that the record be his or her electronic will "may be established by extrinsic evidence" (394.706(3)).

Self-proving an electronic will

Under KRS 394.710, an electronic will may be executed, attested and made self-proving at the same time. The testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits are made before a notary public authorized to administer oaths where execution occurs, "or, if fewer than two (2) attesting witnesses are physically present in the same location as the testator at the time of signing under KRS 394.706(1)(b), before a notary public authorized under KRS 423.455." The notary's certificate under official seal is "affixed to or logically associated with the electronic will," in a form substantially similar to KRS 394.225.

Wills signed electronically elsewhere, and revoking an electronic will

A will executed electronically that does not meet section 394.706 is still an electronic will if it was executed in compliance with the law of the jurisdiction where the testator was physically located when the will was signed, or was domiciled or residing when the will was signed or at death (KRS 394.704).

An electronic will can be revoked by a later will that revokes it "expressly or by inconsistency," or by "A physical act, if it is established by clear and convincing evidence that the testator, with the intent of revoking all or part of the will, performed the act or directed another individual who performed the act in the testator's physical presence" (KRS 394.708(2)).

Electronic signing of trusts and other estate planning documents

The same 2026 act added rules for "nontestamentary estate planning documents," which include trust instruments. Under KRS 394.736, if another Kentucky law bases the validity of such a document on its being signed, witnessed or attested by another individual, that "signature, witnessing, or attestation of that individual may be electronic," and a requirement that it happen in the signer's presence "is satisfied if the individuals are in each other's electronic presence."

Is there a harmless-error rule?

Not for paper wills. Chapter 394 contains no section that lets a court excuse a defect in signing or witnessing a paper will. The one intent-based rule is the electronic-will provision in 394.706(3), which allows extrinsic evidence of the testator's intent that a record be his or her electronic will; the record still has to meet the rest of 394.706.

Changing or revoking a Kentucky will

Ways to revoke

Under KRS 394.080, "No will or codicil, or any part thereof, shall be revoked, except:"

1. "By subsequent will or codicil;"
2. "By some writing declaring an intention to revoke the will or codicil, and executed in the manner in which a will is required to be executed;" or
3. "By the person who made the will, or some person in his presence and by his direction, cutting, tearing, burning, obliterating, canceling, or destroying the will or codicil, or the signature thereto, with the intent to revoke."

An electronic will has its own revocation rule in 394.708, described above.

Reviving a revoked will

Under KRS 394.100, a revoked will or codicil "shall be revived only by reexecution or by a codicil executed in the manner required for making a will, and then only to the extent to which an intention to revive is shown thereby."

Marriage

Section 394.090 is short: "A will shall not be revoked by the marriage of the person who made the will."

Divorce or annulment

Under KRS 394.092, if after executing a will the testator is divorced or the marriage is annulled, the divorce or annulment:

"revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former spouse, and any nomination of the former spouse as executor, trustee, conservator or guardian, unless the will expressly provides otherwise." (KRS 394.092)

Property that cannot pass to the former spouse "passes as if the former spouse failed to survive the decedent." And "If provisions are revoked solely by this section, they are revived by the testator's remarriage to the former spouse."

The section speaks only of provisions "made by the will." By its terms it does not reach a revocable trust instrument or a private life insurance or retirement-account beneficiary designation.

Kentucky's public retirement statutes have their own divorce rules for pension beneficiaries. For a Kentucky Employees Retirement System member's designation made before retirement, "A final divorce decree terminates an ex-spouse's status as beneficiary, unless the member has on file in the retirement office a beneficiary designation that redesignates the ex-spouse as beneficiary subsequent to the issuance of the divorce decree" (KRS 61.542(1)(c)1.); after retirement, the member's estate becomes the beneficiary in place of a spouse-beneficiary divorced from the member at death, unless the member named a new beneficiary (61.542(5)(d)). For the Teachers' Retirement System, a final divorce decree terminates an ex-spouse's beneficiary status unless the member redesignates the former spouse after the divorce, but it "shall not terminate the designation of a trust as beneficiary regardless of who is designated as beneficiary of the trust" (KRS 161.480(1)(c)-(d), 161.650(2)(e)3.).

Those are state rules for state pension systems, and ERISA does not apply to a governmental plan (29 U.S.C. 1003(b)(1)). For private employer plans governed by ERISA, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001), that federal law pre-empts a state statute revoking a spouse's beneficiary designation on divorce as applied to those plans (see the wills and trusts hub for the federal layer). A separate section, KRS 392.090(1), provides that "Absolute divorce bars all claim of either husband or wife to the property, real and personal, of the other after his or her decease"; it does not mention beneficiary designations or trusts.

A child born or adopted after the will

Under KRS 394.382(1), if a testator fails to provide in the will for a child born or adopted after the will was executed, the omitted child receives a share equal to what he or she would have received if the testator had died intestate, unless:

• it appears from the will that the omission was intentional;
• when the will was executed the testator had one or more children and devised substantially all of the estate to the other parent of the omitted child; or
• the testator provided for the child by transfers outside the will, and the intent that they be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's statements, the amount of the transfers or other evidence.

The share is taken ratably from heirs, devisees and legatees (394.382(2)). The rule covers only children born or adopted after the will.

A beneficiary who dies first

Under KRS 394.400, if a devisee or legatee "dies before the testator, or is dead at the making of the will, leaving issue who survive the testator, such issue shall take the estate devised or bequeathed, as the devisee or legatee would have done if he had survived the testator, unless a different disposition thereof is made or required by the will." The section is not limited to relatives.

Contracts about wills

Under KRS 394.540(1), a contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke one, or to die intestate, executed after June 16, 1972, can be established only by provisions of a will stating its material terms, an express reference in a will plus extrinsic evidence, or a writing signed by the decedent. "The execution of a joint will or mutual wills gives rise to no presumption of a contract not to revoke the will or wills" (394.540(2)).

Limits on what a Kentucky will can do

Spouse's right to renounce the will. Kentucky protects a surviving spouse through the right to renounce the will. Under KRS 392.080(1)(a), a surviving spouse may "release what is given to him or her by will, if any, and receive his or her share under KRS 392.020 as if no will had been made, except that in such case the share in any real estate of which the decedent or anyone for the use of the decedent was seized of an estate in fee simple at the time of death shall be only one-third (1/3) of such real estate." The relinquishment is acknowledged before an officer authorized to administer oaths.

What the KRS 392.020 share includes. Section 392.020 gives a life estate in one-third of real estate the other spouse owned in fee during the marriage but not at death, and "an absolute estate in one-half (1/2) of the surplus personalty." As amended by the 2026 act (effective July 15, 2026), surplus personalty includes property payable under a beneficiary, transfer-on-death or payable-on-death designation, "including retirement accounts," and property jointly owned with right of survivorship (392.020(2)). It does not include the death benefit on a life insurance policy on the decedent's life, though insurance proceeds paid to the surviving spouse are credited against the share (392.020(4)). Surplus real estate and surplus personalty also include property held by or payable to "a trust over which the decedent held at the time of death a power of revocation" (392.020(5)(a)). Transfers to others two years or more before death, other than to a trust for the spouse, the decedent or a qualified charity, are excluded (392.020(6)).

Deadline. To be effective, the relinquishment and certificate must be filed "both with the clerk of the court which admitted the will of the deceased spouse to probate and the county clerk of the county where the will of the deceased spouse was admitted to probate, within six (6) months after the admission of the will to probate" (392.080(1)(b)). If a will contest is brought within those six months, the spouse has until six months after the action is disposed of, and the District Court may extend the period by up to six more months on an application made within six months after probate.

Omitted children. See KRS 394.382, described above.

No-contest clauses. Neither KRS Chapter 394 nor Chapter 386B contains a section on clauses that penalize a beneficiary for contesting a will or trust. The Kentucky Court of Appeals has stated that, "Although enforceable in Kentucky, no-contest provisions are strictly construed and are not extended beyond their express terms," and that when a beneficiary challenges the testator's mental capacity or asserts undue influence, "no-contest clauses apply and the complaining beneficiary's interest in the estate or trust is extinguished" (Commonwealth Bank & Trust Co. v. Young, 361 S.W.3d 344 (Ky. App.)).

Revocable living trusts in Kentucky

The trust code

The Kentucky Uniform Trust Code is KRS Chapter 386B, created by 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 25 and effective July 15, 2014. Under KRS 386B.1-010(15), "Revocable," as applied to a trust, "means revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest." Under 386B.11-040(1)(a), the chapter "applies to all trusts created before, on, or after July 15, 2014," except as otherwise provided in the chapter.

An older Kentucky section confirms that keeping control does not undo a living trust. Under KRS 394.065(1), a writing creating a trust, "when otherwise valid," is not an invalid trust or a testamentary disposition because the grantor reserves the income for life, the right to receive principal, "the right, at any time during his lifetime, to modify, alter, amend or revoke the trust instrument, in whole or in part," or the right to direct investments.

Creating a trust

Under KRS 386B.4-010, a trust may be created by transferring property to a trustee during the settlor's life or by will, by the owner's declaration "that the owner holds identifiable property as trustee," or by exercising a power of appointment in favor of a trustee.

Section 386B.4-020(1) sets five requirements: "(a) The settlor has capacity to create a trust; (b) The settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;" (c) a definite beneficiary or a charitable, animal or noncharitable-purpose trust; "(d) The trustee has duties to perform; and (e) The same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary."

Signing formalities

Chapter 386B sets no witness or notary requirement for creating a living trust. Under KRS 386B.4-070, "Except as required by a statute other than those in this chapter, a trust need not be evidenced by a trust instrument, but the creation of an oral trust and its terms may be established only by clear and convincing evidence." Where some other Kentucky law does require a trust document to be signed or witnessed, KRS 394.736 (from July 15, 2026) allows that signing or witnessing to be electronic and in electronic presence, as described above.

Capacity

Under KRS 386B.6-010, "The capacity required to create, amend, revoke, or add property to a revocable trust, or to direct the actions of the trustee of a revocable trust, is the same as that required to make a will."

Revocable by default, and how to revoke or amend

Section 386B.6-020(1) states: "Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide that the trust is irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend the trust. This subsection shall not apply to a trust created under an instrument signed before July 15, 2014."

Under 386B.6-020(3), the settlor may revoke or amend "(a) By substantial compliance with a method provided in the terms of the trust; or (b) If the terms of the trust do not provide a method or the method provided in the terms is not expressly made exclusive, by: 1. A later will or codicil that expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises property that would otherwise have passed according to the terms of the trust; or 2. Any other method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent."

So a later will can revoke or amend a Kentucky living trust only when the trust does not make its own method exclusive and the will expressly refers to the trust or specifically devises its property. The section also provides:

• Several settlors. As to community property, either spouse may revoke but amendment needs both; as to other property, each settlor may revoke or amend the portion attributable to his or her contribution (386B.6-020(2)).
• Agents. An agent under a power of attorney may exercise these powers "only to the extent expressly authorized by the terms of the trust or the power" (386B.6-020(5)). Powers of attorney are covered on the Kentucky power of attorney laws page.
• Conservators, guardians and curators. Except as the trust provides otherwise, they may act only with the approval of the supervising court (386B.6-020(6)).
• Trustee protection. A trustee who does not know the trust was revoked or amended is not liable for acting as though it was not (386B.6-020(7)).

While a trust is revocable and, in the trustee's reasonable belief, the settlor has capacity to revoke it, "rights of the beneficiaries are subject to the control of, and the duties of the trustee are owed exclusively to, the settlor" (386B.6-030(1)(a)).

Creditors

Under KRS 386B.5-040(1)(a), subject to KRS Chapter 396 on claims against decedents' estates, "During the lifetime of the settlor, the property of a revocable trust is subject to claims of the settlor's creditors."

Certification of trust

Under KRS 386B.10-120(1), "Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust" stating the trust's existence and signing date, the settlor, the acting trustee and address, the trustee's powers, whether it is revocable and who holds the power to revoke, cotrustee signing authority, and the manner of taking title. The recipient may require excerpts showing the trustee's appointment and power to act (386B.10-120(5)), and a person who relies on it "without knowledge that the representations contained therein are incorrect is not liable to any person for so acting" (386B.10-120(6)).

After the settlor dies: notice and the contest deadline

"Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust," within 60 days after learning that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, "whether by the death of the settlor or otherwise," the trustee "shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence, of the identity of the settlor or settlors, of the right to request a copy of the trust instrument, and of the right to a trustee's report" (KRS 386B.8-130(1)(b)2.). Regardless of the trust's terms, the trustee of an irrevocable trust must notify and report to at least one qualified beneficiary who has reached 25, or a designated person with a fiduciary relationship to a qualified beneficiary, of the trust's existence, the trustee's identity and the right to request trustee's reports (386B.8-130(2)). Neither duty applies to a trustee who accepted the trusteeship before July 15, 2014, to an irrevocable trust created before July 15, 2014, or to a revocable trust that became irrevocable before that date (386B.8-130(3)).

The contest deadline is in KRS 386B.6-040(1):

"A person may commence a judicial proceeding to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death within the earlier of: (a) Two (2) years after the settlor's death; or (b) Ninety (90) days after the trustee sent the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice informing the person of the trust's existence, of the trustee's name and address, and of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding." (KRS 386B.6-040(1))

The trustee may distribute after the settlor's death without liability unless the trustee knows of a pending contest, or a potential contestant notified the trustee and a proceeding is commenced "within sixty (60) days after the contestant sent the notification" (386B.6-040(2)). A beneficiary of a trust later held invalid "is liable to return any distribution received" (386B.6-040(3)).

Pour-over wills

Kentucky's Uniform Testamentary Additions to Trusts Act, KRS 394.076, lets a will transfer property to the trustee of a trust identified in the will whose terms are set out in a written instrument, other than a will, "executed before, concurrently with, or after the execution of the testator's will," or in the will of someone who predeceased the testator. It applies to wills of decedents dying on or after July 15, 1998 (394.076(5)).

"A transfer referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall not be invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable, or because the trust was amended after the execution of the will or the testator's death." (KRS 394.076(2))

Unless the will provides otherwise, the property becomes part of the trust rather than a separate testamentary trust (394.076(3)), and "a revocation or termination of the trust before the testator's death shall cause the devise or bequest to lapse" (394.076(4)).

After death: producing and recording the will

Under KRS 394.160, "Any District Court, on being informed that a person has in his custody the will of a testator, may summon him, and, by proper process, compel him to produce it." Every will admitted to probate is recorded by the county clerk (394.300(1)(a)). As amended in 2026, for any will recorded on or after January 1, 2027, the clerk returns the original to the person designated in the probate order "no earlier than two (2) years after it has been recorded" (394.300(1)(b)). The probate process itself is on the Kentucky probate page.

Kentucky wills and trusts at a glance

Recent changes

• 2026: Senate Bill 50 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134), effective July 15, 2026. The act created the Uniform Electronic Wills Act (KRS 394.700 to 394.715, for decedents dying on or after July 15, 2026), the Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act (including KRS 394.736), the Kentucky Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act, the Uniform Directed Trust Act and the Uniform Trust Decanting Act. It also amended KRS 392.020 (the surviving spouse's share, now reaching beneficiary-designated, payable-on-death and survivorship property and revocable-trust property) and KRS 394.300 (return of recorded wills from January 1, 2027). Its sections 124 and 125, which take effect January 1, 2028, create beneficiary designations for motor-vehicle titles and amend a motor-vehicle usage-tax exemption (KRS 138.470); they do not change the will or trust rules described here. It did not amend the execution rule in 394.040, the revocation rule in 394.080, the divorce rule in 394.092 or the trust-revocation rule in 386B.6-020.
• 2020-2022 (expired). 2020 Senate Bill 150 (2020 Ky. Acts ch. 73) temporarily treated people communicating by real-time video teleconference as in each other's presence for witnessing and notarization during the COVID-19 emergency; Senate Joint Resolution 150 (2022 Ky. Acts ch. 22) ended the emergency and the measures relying on it, becoming law March 22, 2022.

Making a will in practice

The site's free Kentucky will-maker tool can help draft a basic will. A typed or printed will produced that way is not wholly in the testator's handwriting, so signing must follow KRS 394.040: two credible witnesses who sign in the presence of the testator and of each other, with the optional self-proving affidavit under 394.225. Complex estates, blended families, business interests or tax questions are reasons to consult a lawyer licensed in Kentucky. The tool is not legal advice.

Members of the armed forces have one federal option: under 10 U.S.C. 1044d, a military testamentary instrument is exempt from state formalities and has the same legal effect as a will executed under the law of the state where it is presented for probate (see the wills and trusts hub).

Related pages

• Wills and trusts laws by state
• Kentucky probate
• Kentucky small estate affidavit
• Kentucky power of attorney laws

This article provides general legal information about Kentucky law on wills and revocable trusts as of 2026-10-20. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Kentucky or the district court clerk in the county where the estate will be handled.

Last updated: 2026-10-20.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many witnesses does a will need in Kentucky?

Two credible witnesses, who must sign the will in the presence of the testator and in the presence of each other, unless the will is wholly written by the testator (KRS 394.040).

Is a handwritten will valid in Kentucky?

Yes, if it is wholly written by the testator and subscribed with the testator's name; KRS 394.040 requires witnesses only for a will that is not wholly written by the testator. A typed or printed will is not wholly written by the testator and needs two witnesses.

Does a will have to be notarized in Kentucky?

No. KRS 394.040 does not require a notary. A will may be made self-proved under 394.225 by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits before an officer authorized to administer oaths, which lets it be admitted to probate without witness testimony.

Are oral wills valid in Kentucky?

No. KRS 394.040 provides that no will is valid unless it is in writing.

Can I make an electronic will in Kentucky?

KRS 394.700 to 394.715 recognize electronic wills for decedents who die on or after July 15, 2026. The will must be readable as text, signed by the testator, and signed by two witnesses in the testator's physical or electronic presence, each a Kentucky resident physically located in Kentucky when signing (394.706). A temporary 2020 COVID-19 video-presence rule ended in March 2022; see the electronic wills section.

Does divorce revoke a will in Kentucky?

Divorce or annulment revokes the will's gifts, powers of appointment and fiduciary nominations for the former spouse unless the will expressly provides otherwise, and remarriage to the same spouse revives them (KRS 394.092). The section applies to the will only; see the divorce section above about trusts and beneficiary designations.

Does getting married revoke a will in Kentucky?

No. KRS 394.090 states that a will shall not be revoked by the marriage of the person who made it.

How do I revoke a will in Kentucky?

Under KRS 394.080, by a later will or codicil, by a writing declaring an intention to revoke executed like a will, or by cutting, tearing, burning, obliterating, canceling or destroying the will or its signature with intent to revoke, done by the testator or by another in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction.

Is a living trust revocable in Kentucky?

Yes by default for a trust created under an instrument signed on or after July 15, 2014: under KRS 386B.6-020(1), the settlor may revoke or amend it unless its terms expressly say it is irrevocable. The rule does not apply to instruments signed before that date.

How long do you have to contest a revocable trust in Kentucky?

Under KRS 386B.6-040(1), within the earlier of two years after the settlor's death or 90 days after the trustee sent the person a copy of the trust instrument and the statutory notice.

Can a spouse be left out of a will in Kentucky?

A surviving spouse may renounce the will under KRS 392.080 and take the share under KRS 392.020 instead, with the share in fee real estate owned at death limited to one-third. The renunciation must be filed with both clerks within six months after the will is admitted to probate, subject to the extension and will-contest rules in 392.080(1)(b).