Does my spouse automatically inherit everything if I die without a will in Kentucky?

Often, but not always. Since July 15, 2026, KRS 391.010 puts the surviving spouse first. The spouse takes the entirety if the person who died left no surviving descendants, or if all of that person's descendants are also descendants of the spouse. The spouse takes one-half if that person left a descendant who is not the spouse's, or if that person left descendants, all of them also the spouse's, but the spouse has a descendant who is not that person's; the other half then passes under KRS 391.010 to the children of the person who died and their descendants. If the person who died left no descendants, real estate that was a gift from one of their parents may go to that parent rather than to the spouse, if the parent is living (KRS 391.020). The spouse also has the $30,000 exemption under KRS 391.030 and the separate interests under KRS 392.020; how those fit with the KRS 391.010 share in a particular estate is a question for a Kentucky attorney. For a death before July 15, 2026, the earlier rules may apply instead.

Who inherits if I'm single with no children in Kentucky?

KRS 391.010 sends the estate to the decedent's father and mother; if no parent survives, to the decedent's brothers and sisters and their descendants; then to grandparents; then to uncles and aunts and their descendants; and then to stepchildren. If none of these relatives survives, the estate goes to the state. An unmarried partner is not in the statutory order and inherits nothing through intestacy.

What happens to my minor children's inheritance if I have no will?

It depends on who survives. Under KRS 391.010, children inherit when there is no surviving spouse, or when the surviving spouse takes one-half rather than the entirety. When a minor child does inherit, the child cannot hold property directly, so a court generally must oversee how that share is managed until the child turns 18. A will is also where a parent names the guardian who would raise the children; without a will, the court decides who serves.

Can a will let me leave everything to my spouse?

A properly executed Kentucky will (KRS 394.040) lets a person direct who inherits, including leaving more — or all — to a spouse, subject to a surviving spouse's separate statutory right to renounce the will and claim a share (KRS 392.080). Without a will, the default rules in KRS 391.010 and KRS 392.020 apply instead.

How much does a Kentucky will cost through Bluegrass Cornerstone?

A simple Kentucky will is a flat $99, drafted on Kentucky law and reviewed by D. Elton Johnson, KY Bar #101547, before delivery. This is general information about Kentucky law, not advice for an individual matter.

Kentucky intestacy · Guide

What happens if you die without a will in Kentucky? Intestate succession explained

If you die without a will in Kentucky, state law — not you — decides who inherits. Kentucky rewrote those rules effective July 15, 2026. This page describes the rules for a death on or after that date; if the death was before July 15, 2026, the earlier rules may apply, and a Kentucky attorney can tell you which rules govern the estate. Under the current intestate succession statute (KRS 391.010), a surviving spouse comes first: the spouse takes the entirety if the person who died left no surviving descendants, or if all of that person’s descendants are also descendants of the spouse. The spouse takes one-half if that person left a descendant who is not the spouse’s, or if that person left descendants, all of them also the spouse’s, but the spouse has a descendant who is not that person’s; the other half then passes to the children of the person who died and their descendants. With no surviving spouse, the estate passes to children first, then to parents, then to brothers and sisters, and then down the rest of the order set out below. A surviving spouse also has a $30,000 exemption (KRS 391.030) and separate "dower and curtesy" rights (KRS 392.020). A validly executed Kentucky will (KRS 394.040) is what lets a person choose a different result. This page is general information about Kentucky law, not legal advice for an individual situation.

What "dying without a will" means in Kentucky

When a Kentucky resident dies without a valid will, the law calls it dying "intestate." Instead of the decedent’s own instructions controlling, a fixed set of statutes — Kentucky’s rules of descent and distribution in KRS Chapter 391, together with the surviving-spouse statute in KRS Chapter 392 — decides who receives the estate and in what proportions.

The descent rules in KRS Chapter 391 apply to the "probate estate": assets the decedent owned with no built-in beneficiary or survivorship feature, including the decedent’s share of property co-owned without a right of survivorship. They do not change who inherits assets that already pass outside probate, such as a retirement account or life-insurance policy with its own named beneficiary, or property held with a right of survivorship. Since July 15, 2026, however, the surviving-spouse statute (KRS 392.020) counts some of those assets when a surviving spouse’s share of personal property is figured; see "Do all of my assets pass under the intestate rules?" below.

Two things surprise most Kentucky households. First, the rules are rigid — there is no room for "what they would have wanted." Second, the rules changed on July 15, 2026: much of what Kentucky families have read or been told describes the law as it was before that date.

What changed on July 15, 2026: the surviving spouse now comes first

Many people assume that if they are married and die without a will, everything goes to their spouse. For years that was not how Kentucky worked: under the earlier KRS 391.010 the surviving spouse stood fourth in the order of descent, behind children, parents, and siblings, while the earlier KRS 392.020 separately gave the spouse a fee interest in one-half of the surplus real estate owned at death and one-half of the surplus personal property. Senate Bill 50 (2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134) rewrote KRS 391.010 and KRS 392.020 effective July 15, 2026. The rules on this page are the ones in effect since that date.

Under the current KRS 391.010(1)(a), the surviving spouse comes first and takes: the entirety, if the decedent left no surviving descendant; the entirety, if the decedent left one or more descendants and all of them are also descendants of the surviving spouse; one-half, if the decedent left one or more descendants who are not descendants of the surviving spouse; and one-half, if the decedent left one or more descendants, all of them also descendants of the surviving spouse, but the surviving spouse has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the decedent.

Whatever does not pass to the surviving spouse passes down the rest of the order in KRS 391.010, beginning with the decedent’s children and their descendants; the next section sets out the full order. KRS 391.030 also provides a $30,000 exemption in personal property or money, which the District Court sets apart, on application, to the surviving spouse or, if there is no surviving spouse, to the surviving children.

Separately, a surviving spouse has the interest historically called "dower" for a widow and "curtesy" for a widower, merged into one gender-neutral interest by KRS 392.020. The 2026 amendment removed the former fee interest in one-half of the surplus real estate owned at death. As amended, KRS 392.020 gives the survivor a life estate in one-third of any real estate the deceased spouse owned in fee simple during the marriage but not at death (unless that right has been barred, forfeited, or relinquished), which the statute says is in addition to the share under KRS 391.010. It also gives the survivor an absolute interest in one-half of the surplus personal property. How those interests and the KRS 391.010 share fit together in a particular estate depends on its facts and is a question for a Kentucky attorney.

Who inherits, and in what order

KRS 391.010 sets the order. The surviving spouse comes first and takes the share described above. Whatever does not pass to the spouse — or the whole estate, if there is no surviving spouse — goes to the decedent’s kindred in this order: first to children and their descendants; if there are none, to the decedent’s father and mother; if none, to the decedent’s brothers and sisters and their descendants; if none, to grandparents; if none, to uncles and aunts and their descendants; and if none, to the decedent’s stepchildren. If none of these relatives survives, the estate goes to the state (KRS 391.010(6)). KRS 391.030 distributes personal property (what is left after funeral expenses, administration costs, debts, and the $30,000 exemption described above) to the same people in the same proportions.

So the decedent’s parents, brothers and sisters, and more distant relatives inherit under KRS 391.010 only when there is no surviving spouse and no surviving children or other descendants.

One group is left out entirely: an unmarried partner. Kentucky has no civil-union statute, and a partner who is not legally married to the decedent is not in the KRS 391.010 order and inherits nothing through intestacy, no matter how long the couple lived together.

How the default plays out in common situations

A few common Kentucky situations show how the default works, and where it can differ from what a family assumes.

Married, and all of the decedent’s children and other descendants are also the surviving spouse’s: the spouse takes the entirety under KRS 391.010(1)(a), the result many married parents expect. If the surviving spouse also has a child or other descendant who is not the decedent’s descendant — for example, a child from another relationship whom the decedent never adopted — the spouse takes one-half instead, and the decedent’s children and their descendants take the other half. Either way, a will still names who settles the estate and who would raise minor children.

Blended family, where the decedent left a child or other descendant who is not the surviving spouse’s: the spouse takes one-half, and the decedent’s children and their descendants take the other half under KRS 391.010. Because minors cannot hold property directly, a court generally has to oversee a minor child’s share until the child turns 18.

Married, with no children or other descendants: the surviving spouse takes the entirety under KRS 391.010(1)(a), even when the decedent’s parents or siblings survive. One older rule can make an exception for land: under KRS 391.020, when a person dies without a will and without children or other descendants, real estate that was a gift from one of the person’s parents may go to that parent instead, if the parent is living. Whether and how that rule applies alongside the 2026 change is a question for a Kentucky attorney. Before July 15, 2026, parents and siblings stood ahead of the spouse in the order of descent, so advice written before that date may describe a different result.

Unmarried partner: under the intestate order the partner receives nothing. The same is true for friends or charities the decedent meant to remember. Stepchildren who were never adopted are now named in KRS 391.010(5)(c), but last in the order: they inherit only if there is no surviving spouse and no one in any of the groups listed ahead of them. A will is the document that changes any of these outcomes.

How a Kentucky will changes the outcome

A will is the legal tool that lets a Kentucky resident choose a different result from the intestate default. For a typed paper will, KRS 394.040 sets the execution standard: the will must be signed at the end (or signed by someone else at the maker’s direction and in their presence) and witnessed by two people who sign in the maker’s presence and in the presence of each other. A will is also where a parent names a guardian for minor children and names the person who will settle the estate.

A will does not override everything, and it does not need to. Assets with their own beneficiary designation — retirement accounts, life insurance, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts — pass directly to the named beneficiary outside probate. For a home, Kentucky has no transfer-on-death deed statute; one way to pass a home outside probate is a life-estate deed, the kind the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld in Howell v. Herald, 197 S.W.3d 505 (Ky. 2006).

Bluegrass Cornerstone, a service of Johnson Legal PLLC, offers a simple Kentucky will at a flat $99. Every document is drafted on Kentucky law and reviewed by D. Elton Johnson, KY Bar #101547, before it is delivered.

When to talk to a Kentucky attorney

Most Kentucky households in a straightforward situation can address the intestacy problem with a simple will. A direct conversation with a Kentucky attorney tends to be worth it when the picture is more involved: a blended family, a child with special needs whose inheritance must be structured carefully, real property in more than one state, a family business or farm, or an estate large enough to raise tax questions.

Johnson Legal PLLC, the Kentucky law firm behind Bluegrass Cornerstone, handles these matters directly and only in Kentucky. This page is general information about Kentucky law, not legal advice for an individual matter, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Common questions

Does my spouse automatically inherit everything if I die without a will in Kentucky?: Often, but not always. Since July 15, 2026, KRS 391.010 puts the surviving spouse first. The spouse takes the entirety if the person who died left no surviving descendants, or if all of that person's descendants are also descendants of the spouse. The spouse takes one-half if that person left a descendant who is not the spouse's, or if that person left descendants, all of them also the spouse's, but the spouse has a descendant who is not that person's; the other half then passes under KRS 391.010 to the children of the person who died and their descendants. If the person who died left no descendants, real estate that was a gift from one of their parents may go to that parent rather than to the spouse, if the parent is living (KRS 391.020). The spouse also has the $30,000 exemption under KRS 391.030 and the separate interests under KRS 392.020; how those fit with the KRS 391.010 share in a particular estate is a question for a Kentucky attorney. For a death before July 15, 2026, the earlier rules may apply instead.
Who inherits if I'm single with no children in Kentucky?: KRS 391.010 sends the estate to the decedent's father and mother; if no parent survives, to the decedent's brothers and sisters and their descendants; then to grandparents; then to uncles and aunts and their descendants; and then to stepchildren. If none of these relatives survives, the estate goes to the state. An unmarried partner is not in the statutory order and inherits nothing through intestacy.
What happens to my minor children's inheritance if I have no will?: It depends on who survives. Under KRS 391.010, children inherit when there is no surviving spouse, or when the surviving spouse takes one-half rather than the entirety. When a minor child does inherit, the child cannot hold property directly, so a court generally must oversee how that share is managed until the child turns 18. A will is also where a parent names the guardian who would raise the children; without a will, the court decides who serves.
Can a will let me leave everything to my spouse?: A properly executed Kentucky will (KRS 394.040) lets a person direct who inherits, including leaving more — or all — to a spouse, subject to a surviving spouse's separate statutory right to renounce the will and claim a share (KRS 392.080). Without a will, the default rules in KRS 391.010 and KRS 392.020 apply instead.
Do all of my assets pass under the intestate rules?: No. Assets with their own beneficiary designation — retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death accounts — and property held with a right of survivorship pass directly to the named person outside probate; the assets the decedent owned with no beneficiary designation and no survivorship feature, including the decedent's share of property co-owned without a right of survivorship, are governed by KRS Chapter 391. One 2026 change affects married couples: in figuring a surviving spouse's share of personal property, KRS 392.020 now counts personal property payable under a beneficiary, transfer-on-death, or payable-on-death designation (including retirement accounts) and personal property jointly owned with a right of survivorship, though not the death benefit of a life-insurance policy. The statute also lets the surviving spouse bring an action against a person who received that property, as necessary to satisfy the spouse's claim.
How much does a Kentucky will cost through Bluegrass Cornerstone?: A simple Kentucky will is a flat $99, drafted on Kentucky law and reviewed by D. Elton Johnson, KY Bar #101547, before delivery. This is general information about Kentucky law, not advice for an individual matter.