Kentucky Executor Duties | Settled Estate

Kentucky executor duties start at the District Court. You file the will and a petition in the county where the person lived, the court admits the will, and it appoints you and hands you letters. Those letters are your proof of authority. Banks, brokerages, and the county clerk want to see them before they release funds or record a transfer.

Once the District Court appoints you, you serve as a fiduciary for the estate. You take possession of the personal property, file an inventory within 90 days, clear the six-month creditor bar, pay debts in the order Kentucky sets, set aside the family exemption, and settle the estate. This guide walks those duties in the order Kentucky's deadlines demand. It is general information, not legal advice. Confirm each step with your District Court or a licensed Kentucky attorney.

Read this with the Kentucky probate guide, the Kentucky creditor claims guide, the Kentucky debt payment priority guide, the Kentucky executor bond guide, and the Kentucky probate accounting guide. For deadlines at a glance, see the Kentucky probate timeline. For your local court, see the Kentucky probate court directory.

Get Appointed by the District Court First

Your authority comes from the letters the court issues, not from the will naming you. Before appointment, a named executor can find the original will, secure the house, and gather account statements. You cannot collect accounts, sign for the estate, or transfer title until the court appoints you and the clerk hands you letters.

With a valid will you receive letters testamentary and serve as executor. Without a will you receive letters of administration and serve as administrator. Kentucky calls both roles the personal representative, and the duties below read the same for each. The District Court, not a separate probate court, hears the case and appoints you (KRS 24A.120).

A Bond Is Usually Not Required

Kentucky asks for no bond by default. No surety bond is required of a personal representative appointed under the probate chapter, with two exceptions (KRS 395.130). The court orders a bond when it appoints a public administrator or a curator, or when the judge decides in his or her discretion that a bond is needed to protect everyone with an interest in the estate. In weighing that, the judge may look at what the will or trust says, though the court is not bound by it, and at your track record as a fiduciary.

If the court does order a bond, you deliver it to the clerk with sufficient sureties (KRS 395.140), and the reasonable cost of a corporate surety is charged to the estate as an expense of administration (KRS 395.130). See the Kentucky executor bond guide for when a judge orders one and how the amount is set.

Duty 1: Take Possession as a Fiduciary

The court makes you a fiduciary, which sets the standard for everything that follows. You act for the estate and its beneficiaries, not for yourself. Open a separate estate bank account, keep estate money out of your own accounts, and record the date-of-death value of each asset as you collect it.

Your work runs mostly to the personal property: bank and investment accounts, vehicles, and personal belongings. In Kentucky, title to real estate passes to the heirs or devisees at the owner's death, so land sits outside your routine administration unless it has to be sold to cover debts. That split is why the fee statute measures your compensation against the personal estate and treats real-estate work as extra (KRS 395.150).

Duty 2: File the Inventory Within 90 Days

You file an inventory no later than 90 days after you qualify as personal representative (KRS 395.250). It lists the estate's property at fair market value. A 2026 change to this section makes the inventory confidential: the clerk seals it and sends a copy to the Department of Revenue, and you furnish a copy only to the people the statute or the court allows.

If property turns up later, or you find that a value or description in the first inventory is wrong, you file an amended inventory (KRS 395.250). Miss the deadline and the court can impose the penalties the statute points to. Build the worksheet once and keep the source document behind every number: owner name, account or title number, date-of-death value, and any lien.

Duty 3: Watch the Six-Month Creditor Bar

Kentucky runs its creditor clock off your appointment, not off a newspaper notice. A claim that arose before the death is barred unless the creditor presents it within six months after your appointment as personal representative (KRS 396.011). Where no one is ever appointed, the outer limit is two years after the death.

Two things survive the bar. A secured creditor keeps its mortgage or lien to the extent of the collateral, and a liability-insurance claim can proceed up to the policy limits (KRS 396.011). Because the six-month bar is short and self-executing, sort real claims from stale ones early and keep proof of what you paid. The Kentucky creditor claims guide walks the presentation and dispute steps.

Duty 4: Pay Debts in the Statutory Order

When the estate cannot cover everything, the order you pay in matters more than the order the bills arrive. Kentucky lists a set of preferred claims and directs you to pay them in that order (KRS 396.095). Paying a lower-ranked debt before a higher one can leave you answering for the difference.

Do not guess when the estate looks tight. Confirm the ranking first. The Kentucky debt payment priority guide lays out the classes and shows where funeral costs, administration expenses, taxes, and general debts fall.

Duty 5: Set Aside the $30,000 Family Exemption

Before general creditors and heirs, Kentucky protects a slice for the family. On application, the District Court sets apart personal property or money up to $30,000 for the surviving spouse, or for the surviving children if there is no spouse (KRS 391.030). The spouse can also petition the judge to withdraw up to $2,500 from a bank before the full exemption is set apart.

This exemption drives Kentucky's small-estate shortcut too. When the exemption and any preferred claims already paid equal or exceed what is left to distribute, the court can dispense with administration and transfer the assets straight to the spouse or children, in both testate and intestate estates (KRS 395.455). See the Kentucky probate guide for how dispensing with administration works.

Duty 6: Account for the Estate and Settle

You answer to the court for every asset you take in and every dollar you pay out. Kentucky gives you two ways to close.

The formal track is a periodic settlement. Two years after your appointment, and every year after that until the estate is fully distributed and its debts, costs, fees, and taxes are paid or accounted for, you render an account and file it with the appointing court (KRS 395.610). A final settlement adds a full accounting of what was distributed and how, a list of allowed and disallowed creditor claims, the fees and commissions paid to you and your attorney, and provision for Kentucky inheritance tax and any federal estate tax (KRS 395.610).

The faster track is an informal final settlement. Any time after six months from your appointment, you can file one if every beneficiary signs a verified waiver, or if you are the sole beneficiary, and the estate is solvent with claims, taxes, and costs handled (KRS 395.605). The court needs no notice or hearing and can discharge you and your surety on approval. The Kentucky probate accounting guide shows what each filing contains.

Kentucky charges an inheritance tax on some beneficiaries, so weigh it before you pay anyone out. Close relatives in Class A owe nothing, while more distant heirs and unrelated beneficiaries can owe tax. The Kentucky inheritance tax guide explains the Class A, B, and C treatment.

Duty 7: Distribute After the Six-Month Window

Distribution comes last, and Kentucky ties it to the same six-month mark. A personal representative may distribute the estate six months after qualification (KRS 395.190). That lines up with the creditor bar: wait out the six months, and the claims that were going to come in have come in.

Before you hand anything to a beneficiary, run this checklist:

Have six months passed since your appointment (KRS 395.190 and KRS 396.011)?
Is the 90-day inventory on file, with any amendments?
Are allowed claims paid in the statutory order?
Is the $30,000 family exemption set aside?
Are Kentucky inheritance tax and any federal estate tax handled?
Do you hold a signed receipt from each person who takes property?

A name in the will is not a green light to pay out on day one. A claim that is not yet barred can follow the property to the people who received it, and a shortfall can come back to you. With no will, you distribute under the Kentucky intestate succession rules.

How a Kentucky Executor Gets Paid

Kentucky caps the fee. Your compensation cannot exceed five percent of the value of the personal estate plus five percent of the income you collect for the estate (KRS 395.150). That 5% and 5% is a ceiling, not an entitlement, and the court reviews what you claim. To frame a number before you decide whether to take or waive the fee, work through the Kentucky executor compensation calculator.

You can ask for more for work beyond the ordinary. The court may allow extra compensation for services that were unusual or extraordinary, or that you performed in connection with real estate or with estate and inheritance taxes on property counted for tax but outside the probate estate (KRS 395.150). Frame your number against the personal estate first, then back any extra with a record of the added work.

Common Questions

Which court appoints a Kentucky executor?

The District Court in the county where the person lived at death. Kentucky has no separate probate court; the District Court admits the will and issues your letters (KRS 24A.120). Find yours in the Kentucky probate court directory.

What is my first deadline after I qualify?

The inventory. You file it no later than 90 days after you qualify as personal representative, at fair market value and under seal (KRS 395.250).

How long do creditors have to file claims in Kentucky?

Six months after your appointment as personal representative. A claim not presented in that window is barred, except a secured claim to the extent of its collateral and a liability-insurance claim to the policy limits (KRS 396.011).

Do I have to post a bond?

Usually no. Kentucky requires no bond of a personal representative by default. The court orders a surety bond only for a public administrator or curator, or when the judge decides one is needed to protect the estate (KRS 395.130).

How much does a Kentucky executor get paid?

No more than five percent of the personal estate plus five percent of the income collected, subject to court review, with extra allowed for extraordinary or real-estate and tax work (KRS 395.150).

When can I distribute and close the estate?

A personal representative may distribute six months after qualification (KRS 395.190). You can then file an informal final settlement with beneficiary waivers, or a formal settlement, and ask the court to discharge you (KRS 395.605).

This guide is general information about Kentucky estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the District Court that issued your letters or a licensed Kentucky attorney.

Sources:

Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 24A.120, Civil and probate jurisdiction. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=43159
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.130, Bond, when required; cost of corporate surety paid from estate. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57675
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.140, Delivery of surety bond to court; persons not to be surety on; recording. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57676
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.150, Compensation of representatives. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36328
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.190, Time for distribution of estate. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=36333
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.250, Inventory required; confidentiality; copies are evidence; settlement; penalty. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57677
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.455, Transfer of assets without administration. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57684
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.605, Informal final settlement; process. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57686
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 395.610, Periodic accounting by fiduciaries; requirements. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57687
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 396.011, Presentation of claims against estate; time limitations; exceptions. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=51057
Title: Kentucky Revised Statutes 391.030, Descent of personal property; exemption for surviving spouse and children; withdrawal of money from bank by surviving spouse. Publisher: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Publication Date: Kentucky Revised Statutes (current through the 2026 Regular Session), accessed July 20, 2026. URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=49987

It is not legal advice.