Quick answer: Yes. Kentucky recognizes holographic wills: under KRS 394.040 a will that is wholly in the testator’s own handwriting and signed by the testator is valid without any witnesses. The handwriting requirement is strict, the document must show testamentary intent, and handwritten wills generate far more litigation than properly witnessed ones. People are often…
Quick answer: Yes. Kentucky lets a parent disinherit an adult child by will, with no forced share for children. The exceptions are a child born or adopted after the will was signed, who may take an intestate share as a pretermitted child, and a surviving spouse, who cannot be disinherited because of the right to…
Quick answer: If your original will cannot be found after your death, Kentucky law presumes you destroyed it with the intent to revoke it, and a copy will not be admitted unless that presumption is overcome. Keep the signed original in a fireproof safe, a safe deposit box your executor can access, or with your…
Quick answer: Online will forms are risky in Kentucky because the document is only valid if executed with the formalities in KRS 394.040, the template cannot account for Kentucky’s inheritance tax or your family’s circumstances, and a defective will is discovered only after you are gone, when it cannot be fixed. A lawyer-drafted will costs…
Quick answer: A Kentucky will can do more than divide property. It can name guardians, leave specific items with personal messages, make charitable gifts, set conditions, and state your wishes about funeral arrangements. Done well, it speaks for you after you are gone, which is something a fill-in-the-blank template rarely accomplishes. Most people think of…
Quick answer: Online will services do not tell you that in Kentucky your probated will becomes a public record anyone can copy, that the form is only valid if executed exactly as KRS 394.040 requires, and that no one reviews whether the template fits your family, your assets, or Kentucky’s inheritance tax. A mistake is…
Quick answer: Beneficiary designations on life insurance, retirement accounts, and payable-on-death accounts control who receives those assets, regardless of what your will says. In Kentucky a divorce revokes gifts to an ex-spouse in a will under KRS 394.092, but it may not change a beneficiary form on file with the company, so review every designation…
Quick answer: A Kentucky living will lets you state in advance whether you want life-prolonging treatment, artificial nutrition and hydration, and organ donation if you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious, and lets you name a health care surrogate to decide for you. It must be signed in the presence of two adult witnesses or…
Quick answer: Review your will every three to five years and immediately after a marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, a death of a beneficiary or executor, a move to another state, a significant change in assets, or a change in the tax law. In Kentucky a divorce revokes provisions for an ex-spouse under KRS 394.092,…
Quick answer: When you die, your email, social media, cloud storage, cryptocurrency, and online financial accounts pass under your will or intestacy like other property, but your executor cannot access them without the credentials and the legal authority Kentucky’s digital assets law and the provider’s terms require. Keep an inventory, use a password manager with…