Kentucky Dispensing With Administration

The exemption test (KRS 395.455 and KRS 391.030)

KRS 395.455, Transfer of assets without administration, was rewritten by Senate Bill 50, 2026 Kentucky Acts chapter 134. The Justia 2025 republication of the section is pre-rewrite text and must never be quoted as current. The current text, as read in the enrolled bill, provides in subsection (1) that where the exemption for the surviving spouse or children, alone or together with preferred claims paid by either the spouse or children, or by the surviving spouse where the spouse estate is legally liable, equals or exceeds distributable assets, the court may order dispensing and transfer to the surviving spouse or, if none, the surviving children, or a person designated by the surviving spouse. The route covers testate and intestate estates, without requiring renunciation of a will. The word in the current text is distributable assets, not probate assets. Use the current term only.

Subsection (2) provides that where no distributable estate passes through a personal representative hands, no letters are required, and for a testate estate the will is probated only. Subsection (3) provides that the court may order dispensing and transfer in favor of a preferred creditor or other person where the spouse or children waived the exemption in favor of a person who paid preferred claims equal to or greater than distributable assets or is legally entitled to payment, or where there is no spouse or children and the person paid preferred claims or is legally entitled to payment. Subsection (4) defines the exemption as the KRS 391.030 exemption and preferred claims as the KRS 396.095 claims in the order listed. No waiting period, no affidavit procedure, no fee, and no real property exclusion or inclusion appears in the section.

The effective date of July 15, 2026 for Senate Bill 50 rests on secondary summaries. The enrolled act effective date provision was not opened for this guide, and the official Kentucky Revised Statutes database was not re-read. Currency is therefore stated with that limitation. See the Source section.

KRS 391.030 sets the exemption at $30,000. The section provides in subsection (1) that after funeral expenses, administration charges, and debts, personal property or money on hand or in a bank or depository to $30,000 is exempt from distribution and sale, set apart by the District Court on application to the surviving spouse or, if none, the surviving children. A bank withdrawal paragraph allows the surviving spouse, at any time before set apart, to procure a District Court judge order authorizing withdrawal of up to $2,500 from any bank or depository. On presentation, the bank shall permit withdrawal, lodge the endorsed order with the circuit clerk, and the withdrawal is a charge against the exempt property. Subsection (3) covers selection. The spouse or children select from the personal property up to $30,000. Subsection (4) covers testate estates: $30,000 to the spouse, $30,000 bequeathed to children if no spouse, the spouse exemption not conditioned on renouncing the will and available in addition to and prior to the KRS 392.080 statutory share on renunciation, a selection order for the spouse of residuary personal property first, then specifically bequeathed money on hand or deposit, then other specifically bequeathed personal property, and a contribution right for a beneficiary whose bequest supplied the selection, on KRS 394.420 through 394.490 principles, with none from the spouse.

The $15,000 figure is dead since July 15, 2020, under 2020 Kentucky Acts chapter 24. Any build stating $15,000 as current misstates the law. A secondary page that states the test as a flat $30,000 gross personal property cap, with paid preferred claims added to the limit as a dollar add on, also misstates the statute. The statutory test is the comparison stated above: exemption plus preferred claims paid, measured against distributable assets.

Jurisdiction and claim order

KRS 395.450, Jurisdiction to dispense with administration, is one sentence. The District Court with jurisdiction to grant administration of an intestate estate has jurisdiction of dispensing proceedings. A vendor citation of KRS 395.450 as the dispensing procedure misstates the section number. The procedure is KRS 395.455. The agreement route is KRS 395.470.

KRS 396.095, Order of payment of claims, applies where applicable assets are insufficient to pay all claims in full. The personal representative pays in order: costs and expenses of administration; funeral expenses; debts and taxes with preference under federal law and Kentucky law; and all other claims. No preference exists within a class, and matured claims have no preference over unmatured claims. Senate Bill 50 does not amend this section beyond the cross reference in section 395.455(4), subject to the official re-check stated in the Source section.

The agreement route (KRS 395.470)

KRS 395.470, Dispensing with administration by agreement, is a second route. Keep it in a separate lane from section 395.455. The agreement route needs advertisement and agreement. The exemption route needs neither.

Under the Senate Bill 50 text, subsection (1) covers testate or intestate estates where there are no debts, all beneficiaries agreed in writing under penalty of perjury that there shall be no further administration, with a trustee designation if applicable, advertisement per subsection (7) is evidenced by acknowledgment under penalty of perjury, a tax provision applies if any, and no claims or demands are due the estate if no trustee is designated. Agreements are acknowledged under penalty of perjury and filed with the motion. An agreement is effective if executed by a person with contracting authority for a beneficiary. The motion may be filed at any time after probate of the will, appointment of a personal representative, and advertisement, including after the estate has opened. The court, satisfied by the agreements, shall enter an order dispensing with further administration. A trustee confirmation provision follows.

Advertisement under subsection (7) runs 6 weeks, by courthouse door posting and publication under KRS chapter 424, with notice of when, where, and by whom, at the county seat, and an affidavit of advertisement before the order. The bond is now discretionary. The court may order a bond in the amount of the personal estate, for a 6 month creditor window, running to the state, void if no claim is filed. The pre-2026 mandatory surety bond wording must never be carried as current for this route.

The form: AOC-830, vendor copy only

Form AOC-830, Petition and Order to Dispense With Administration, Surviving Spouse, Children, or Preferred Creditor, Rev. 12-16, was read only as a vendor copy. The official Court of Justice current form was not opened. No content of the vendor copy is carried here as current form content. The form header cites KRS 391.030, 394.145, 395.455, and 396.095. KRS 394.145 was not opened, and no sentence here cites it. The vendor copy states no waiting period, no fee, and no creditor advertisement certification. A 2015 vendor form advertisement field does not appear in the Rev. 12-16 copy. That revision discrepancy is resolved only by the current official form. The form says personal property throughout. It does not state a real property rule. Bond status under current section 395.455 is unstated in the section after Senate Bill 50 deleted both no bond sentences from the prior text. This guide never states no bond required for the current exemption route without a current form or practice source.

Traps

A vendor executor form citing KRS 395.455 and 391.030 requires $15,000 plus 30 days elapsed plus no proceeding and personal representative consent averments, presented to a holder. Neither section contains an affidavit procedure, a 30 day wait, or holder presentation language. Kentucky affidavit track instrument is the verified petition to the District Court, decided by court order. Never call AOC-830 a holder affidavit. Never state a waiting period for the section 395.455 route.

No real property sentence is stated in this guide beyond the exemption scope. No section read states a real property rule for dispensing. Sentences that real estate is excluded, or that an Affidavit of Descent transfers it, are ungrounded here. KRS 391.225 and 391.230 on perfection of title were not opened. No vehicle sentence is stated. The Senate Bill 50 motor vehicle transfer on death procedure and county clerk title transfer were not opened. No fee figure is stated. The county varying filing fee range in a single secondary source was not verified and is never carried. Senate Bill 50 will recording and will tax fees are different fees and are never conflated with a dispensing petition filing fee. No death certificate fee or wait is stated, because those sources were not opened. No intestate share or contribution sentence is stated, because the adjacent sections were not opened.

For small estate procedures in other states, see the Small Estate Affidavits by State directory. For the questions each state procedure answers, see Small Estate Affidavit Questions.

Source

Sources: KRS 395.455 and KRS 395.470, Senate Bill 50, 2026 Kentucky Acts chapter 134, enrolled text via LegiScan republication, sections 20 and 21 read in full; KRS 391.030, KRS 395.450, and KRS 396.095, Justia 2025 republications, read in full; Form AOC-830 Rev. 12-16, vendor copy via eSign, read in full, tier vendor copy only. Facts verified 2026-11-01, subject to the limitations below. Open flags: (1) the official Kentucky Revised Statutes database was not re-read, and the Senate Bill 50 enrolled act effective date provision was not opened, so the July 15, 2026 effective date rests on secondary summaries and confirmation that sections 391.030 and 396.095 were untouched beyond the cross reference is owed; (2) the current official AOC-830 revision was not opened, so no vendor copy content is carried as current; (3) no filing fee source was opened, so no fee figure is stated; (4) KRS 394.145, 391.010, 392.020, 394.420 through 394.490, 391.225, and 391.230 were not opened, so no sentence resting on them is stated; (5) no real property authority beyond the personal property exemption scope is stated; (6) the motor vehicle transfer on death procedure was not opened; (7) Kentucky death certificate fee and wait were not opened; (8) KRS chapter 424 advertisement mechanics beyond section 395.470(7) text were not opened; (9) the 2020 chapter 24 enrolled text was not re-checked beyond the history line and current text; (10) bond status under current section 395.455 is unstated in the section, so no bond sentence is stated for that route; (11) distributable assets is the current term, and pre-2026 probate assets wording is never quoted as current.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to the Kentucky District Court or a lawyer.