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Kentucky rewrote both halves of this subject on July 15, 2026. Electronic wills became legal that day — with a residency rule no other state imposes — and the statute governing what your spouse inherits without a will was replaced outright. A surviving spouse who used to receive a life estate in one-third of the real estate now takes the whole thing when all the children are shared. Handwritten wills remain valid here without any witnesses at all. Online services prepare a Kentucky-specific will for $199–$299. Every rule below cites the Kentucky Revised Statutes.
Most Kentucky adults can finish a legally valid will in under an hour.
Two witnesses, a signature, and clear wishes — that’s the whole requirement. An online service like Trust & Will prepares a Kentucky-specific will with the witness pages ready to sign.
Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through the Trust & Will links here, at no extra cost to you. Complex situations belong with an attorney and we say so below.
Kentucky Will Requirements (2026)
KRS § 394.040 has set the execution rules since 1978, and the 2026 legislation left it untouched:
| Requirement | Kentucky rule | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| In writing | A written record — or, since July 15, 2026, an electronic record executed under the separate electronic wills act | §§ 394.040, 394.700–394.715 |
| Signed | Your name subscribed by you, or by another person in your presence and at your direction | § 394.040 |
| Witnessed | Two credible witnesses who subscribe in your presence and in the presence of each other — required only if the will is not wholly in your handwriting | § 394.040 |
| Notarized | Not required for validity — the notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit | § 394.225 |
The “in the presence of each other” clause matters. Kentucky is stricter than the Uniform Probate Code states here. Your two witnesses cannot sign at separate times or in separate rooms; they have to be together, with you, watching each other sign. Neighboring Indiana imposes the same requirement, but many states do not — a will that would be fine in Ohio can fail in Kentucky on this point alone.
Who can make a will: anyone 18 or older of sound mind (§ 394.020). Nobody under 18 can make a will except pursuant to a power specially given to that effect — though a parent who is still a minor may use a will to appoint a guardian for their own child (§ 394.030).
Handwritten Wills Are Valid in Kentucky — If You Wrote Every Word
Kentucky recognizes holographic wills, and a handwritten will needs no witnesses at all. But you will not find a section of the statutes that says so. Chapter 394 contains no “holographic wills” heading. The rule lives inside a conditional clause in the execution statute:
“No will is valid unless it is in writing with the name of the testator subscribed thereto by himself… 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…” — KRS § 394.040
Because the witness requirement is expressly conditioned on the will not being wholly written by you, a will that is wholly written by you escapes it. Handwrite the entire document and sign it, and it is a valid Kentucky will.
“Wholly” is the trap. A preprinted will form with the blanks filled in by hand is not wholly written by you — the printed words are someone else’s. That document needs two witnesses signing together, and a form filled out at the kitchen table without them is worth nothing. The same goes for a typed will you sign by hand. Half-measures are the worst outcome available: a fully handwritten page is valid, a properly witnessed typed will is valid, and the hybrid is not.
Contrast Minnesota, which refuses handwritten wills entirely, and Tennessee, which accepts them under its own rules, and West Virginia, which hides the same conditional-clause rule inside its execution statute. Handwritten wills also invite contests. They arrive with no witnesses to confirm you had capacity, and courts see a great many of them written under someone else’s influence.
Electronic Wills: Legal in Kentucky Since July 15, 2026
Kentucky adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act in the 2026 regular session. It appears at KRS §§ 394.700 to 394.715, was created by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134 (Senate Bill 50), and each of those sections carries the same line: Effective: July 15, 2026.
Under § 394.706, an electronic will must be a record readable as text at the time of signing, signed by you (or by another person in your physical presence at your direction), and signed by at least two witnesses in your physical or electronic presence within a reasonable time after witnessing. “Electronic presence” means real-time communication — video, not email.
Two restrictions make Kentucky’s version narrower than any other state’s:
1. Both witnesses must be Kentuckians, in Kentucky. Section 394.706(1)(c) requires each witness to be a resident of this Commonwealth and physically located in this Commonwealth at the time of signing. Oklahoma’s parallel act, passed two years earlier, requires only that a witness be a resident of and located in “a state” — any state. Kentucky’s rule means a video signing witnessed by your daughter in Cincinnati fails, even though she is ten minutes away.
2. A typed name is not a signature. Section 394.706(2) requires that an electronic symbol of a testator or witness be an electronic image of that person’s signature in his or her handwriting. Click-to-sign, a typed name, and a checkbox all fall outside the statute.
An electronic will can be made self-proving at execution under § 394.710, using an affidavit substantially like the paper form in § 394.225. If fewer than two witnesses are physically in the room with you, the notary must be authorized to perform remote online notarizations under KRS § 423.455.
A note on the date. The legislature’s own bill record for Senate Bill 50 summarizes the act as effective January 1, 2028 in part. That later date attaches to other provisions of a very large bill. The electronic wills sections themselves each read “Effective: July 15, 2026” in the official statute text, which is the date that governs them.
All of which is legal, and none of which is necessary. The paper ceremony still moves through probate with the least friction, and every online service produces a paper will meant to be signed in front of two people at once.
Dying Without a Will in Kentucky: The Rules Changed in July 2026
This is the part of Kentucky law that almost everything published online still gets wrong. Until July 15, 2026, a Kentucky widow or widower received dower — a life estate in one-third of the real estate and half the surplus personal property — while the children took the rest outright. The 2026 act replaced KRS § 391.010 entirely:
| Your situation | What your spouse receives |
|---|---|
| No descendants survive you | The entirety (§ 391.010(1)(a)1) |
| All your descendants are your spouse’s | The entirety (§ 391.010(1)(a)2) |
| You have a child who isn’t your spouse’s | One-half (§ 391.010(1)(a)3) |
| Your spouse has a child who isn’t yours | One-half (§ 391.010(1)(a)4) |
Note the symmetry in the last two rows. Every child may be your spouse’s own — but if your spouse has a child from an earlier relationship, their share still drops to half. Kentucky now looks at both sides of the marriage, the way Minnesota does.
Dower survives, in a reduced form. KRS § 392.020 still gives the surviving spouse, in addition to the share above, a life estate in one-third of any real estate the decedent owned during the marriage but not at death, plus an absolute half of the surplus personal property.
And that claim now reaches assets a will never touched. The 2026 amendment to § 392.020 sweeps into “surplus personalty” property that passes by beneficiary designation, transfer-on-death or payable-on-death designation — including IRAs and other retirement accounts — and property held jointly with right of survivorship (§ 392.020(2)). Revocable trust assets and property under a general power of appointment come in too (§ 392.020(5)). Whatever the spouse actually received through those routes is credited against the claim (§ 392.020(3)), life insurance is excluded but insurance paid to the spouse is credited (§ 392.020(4)), and transfers made more than two years before death to anyone other than a trust for the spouse, the decedent, or a qualified charity stay out (§ 392.020(6)). If the property has already gone to someone else, the spouse can sue that recipient directly (§ 392.020(8)).
The practical effect: the old Kentucky strategy of routing everything through payable-on-death forms to sidestep a spouse’s claim stopped working in July 2026.
Separately, § 391.030(1)(c) sets aside $30,000 of personal property or money on hand for the surviving spouse (or the children if there is no spouse), and the spouse may withdraw up to $2,500 from a bank by district court order before the setaside is made (§ 391.030(2)).
Kentucky’s Inheritance Tax
Kentucky has no estate tax, but it is one of a small handful of states that still levies an inheritance tax — a tax on the recipient, set by who they were to you rather than by how large the estate was.
| Class | Who | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Class A | Spouse, parent, child, stepchild, grandchild, sibling, niece, nephew | Fully exempt (§ 140.080(1)(a)–(b)) |
| Class B | Son-in-law, daughter-in-law, aunt, uncle, great-grandchild | 4% to 16%, after a $1,000 exemption (§§ 140.070(2), 140.080(1)(c)) |
| Class C | Everyone else — cousins, friends, unmarried partners, most organizations | 6% to 16%, after a $500 exemption (§§ 140.070(3), 140.080(1)(d)) |
Because Class A is completely exempt, Kentucky’s inheritance tax is in practice a tax on leaving property to anyone outside your immediate family. The case that catches people is the unmarried partner. A spouse pays nothing; a partner of thirty years is Class C and pays from the first dollar above $500, at rates starting at 6% and reaching 16%. A niece is exempt. A cousin is not. If your plan leaves anything to someone outside Class A, the tax is a planning problem worth raising with a Kentucky attorney. Compare the death-tax rules across the country in our state-by-state comparison.
What a Will Costs in Kentucky
| Route | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Wholly handwritten | $0 | Valid in Kentucky if every word is yours — but easily contested and often unclear |
| Online service | $199 individual / $299 couple | Kentucky-specific will with witness pages, done in about an hour |
| Kentucky attorney | Flat fees vary — Louisville and Lexington run above the rest of the state | Custom drafting and counsel, including inheritance-tax planning for non-family beneficiaries |
Online pricing verified against Trust & Will’s published rates (August 2026). The Kentucky Bar Association publishes no fee survey, so we quote no attorney figures we can’t source. See how Kentucky compares with the rest of the country for national cost ranges and a state-by-state table of will requirements.
What a Kentucky Will Does Not Do
1. A will does not avoid probate. Kentucky probate is a District Court process on the public record. Kentucky does offer transfer-on-death deeds for real estate, which pass a home outside probate entirely. For the comparison, see what a living trust costs in Kentucky and our guide to avoiding probate.
2. A will does not defeat your spouse’s claim — and since July 2026 that claim reaches further than most plans anticipate. A surviving spouse may renounce the will and take the statutory share instead (§ 392.080), and the dower claim now extends to beneficiary designations, joint accounts, and retirement accounts. Disinheriting a spouse in Kentucky is not something a will accomplishes on its own.
3. A will does not cover incapacity, and does not override beneficiary designations. It speaks only after death. Pair it with a durable power of attorney and a health care directive — see the five documents every family needs — and keep your beneficiary forms current, since those still control the accounts themselves.
Will vs. Trust for Kentucky Families
Every Kentucky adult needs a will. No default rule names a guardian for your children, and the 2026 intestacy statute — generous as it now is to spouses — still splits your estate in half the moment a child from another relationship exists on either side. The trust question here is driven by probate and by privacy rather than by tax: Kentucky has no estate tax, and the inheritance tax falls on individual beneficiaries rather than on the estate. Start with Trust vs. Will: Which Does Your Family Need? and the numbers in our Kentucky living trust cost guide.
If the will is what you need today, Trust & Will’s Kentucky package includes the witness pages, guardianship nominations, and healthcare documents — build your Kentucky will here.
FAQ
Does a will have to be notarized in Kentucky?
No. Validity takes your signature and two credible witnesses who subscribe in your presence and in the presence of each other (§ 394.040). The notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit (§ 394.225), which spares your witnesses a trip to court later.
Are handwritten wills legal in Kentucky?
Yes, and they need no witnesses — but only if the will is wholly written by you. KRS § 394.040 requires two witnesses only when the will “is not wholly written by the testator.” A preprinted form with handwritten blanks does not qualify and still needs two witnesses signing together.
Can I make an electronic will in Kentucky?
Yes — since July 15, 2026, under KRS §§ 394.700 to 394.715. Two limits are unusual: both witnesses must be Kentucky residents physically located in Kentucky at signing (§ 394.706(1)(c)), and an electronic signature must be an image of an actual handwritten signature, not a typed name (§ 394.706(2)).
What happens if I die without a will in Kentucky?
Since July 15, 2026, your spouse takes the entire estate if all your descendants are also theirs, or if you leave no descendants. If either of you has a child from another relationship, your spouse takes one-half (§ 391.010). Dower under § 392.020 applies on top of that, and now reaches beneficiary-designated and jointly held property.
Does Kentucky have an inheritance tax?
Yes. Class A beneficiaries — spouse, parents, children, stepchildren, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews — are fully exempt (§ 140.080). Class B pays 4% to 16% after a $1,000 exemption and Class C pays 6% to 16% after a $500 exemption (§ 140.070). An unmarried partner is Class C.
Does a will avoid probate in Kentucky?
No — a will goes through probate. Living trusts, transfer-on-death deeds, and beneficiary designations are the tools that pass property outside the court process.
Kentucky Law Cited on This Page
- KRS § 394.040 — requisites of a valid will, including the holographic exception
- KRS § 394.020 — persons competent to make a will
- KRS § 394.225 — self-proved will
- KRS § 394.706 — execution of electronic wills (effective July 15, 2026)
- KRS § 394.710 — attestation and self-proving of electronic wills
- KRS § 391.010 — descent of real estate (rewritten effective July 15, 2026)
- KRS § 392.020 — dower and curtesy, surplus personalty (amended effective July 15, 2026)
- KRS § 391.030 — descent of personal property, $30,000 spousal setaside
Update log — August 2026: page created. Execution, holographic, electronic-will, intestacy, dower and inheritance-tax rules verified against the official Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS database last updated 08/25/2026), including the changes made by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134 effective July 15, 2026. Reviewed when Kentucky law changes.