Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Kentucky, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Kentucky’s intestacy statute (KRS 391.010(1)(a) (real estate, applied to personalty via KRS 391.030(1)); KRS 392.020 (dower/curtesy, a separate nonprobate-adjacent interest)) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Kentucky residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: KRS 391.010(1)(a) (real estate, applied to personalty via KRS 391.030(1)); KRS 392.020 (dower/curtesy, a separate nonprobate-adjacent interest) and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Spouse takes the ENTIRE probate estate if: no surviving descendant of the decedent; OR the decedent is survived by one or more descendants all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse AND the spouse has no outside descendant of their own. If the spouse has an outside descendant even where all the decedent’s descendants are shared, share drops to one-half.
When it is less than everything: Effective July 15, 2026 (KRS 391.010(1)(a), post a 2026 statutory restructuring, 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134): ‘1. If there is no surviving descendant of the decedent, the entirety; 2. If the decedent is survived by one or more descendants, all of whom are also descendants of the surviving spouse, the entirety; 3. If the decedent is survived by one or more descendants who are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, one-half; or 4. If … all descendants also the surviving spouse’s, and the surviving spouse has one or more descendants who are not descendants of the decedent, one-half.’ No separate parent-survives-no-descendant tier; spouse gets the entirety regardless of surviving parents if no descendant. SEPARATELY, KRS 392.020 gives dower/curtesy: an additional life estate in one-third of real property alienated during the marriage, plus an absolute one-half interest in ‘surplus personalty’ (including nonprobate TOD/POD/joint-survivorship property); layered on top of, not a reduction of, the probate share above.
If there is no surviving descendant of the decedent, the entirety; … If the decedent is survived by one (1) or more descendants who are not lineal descendants of the surviving spouse, one-half (1/2) (KRS 391.010(1)(a)1,3), Effective: July 15, 2026.
Source: KRS 391.010(1)(a) (real estate, applied to personalty via KRS 391.030(1)); KRS 392.020 (dower/curtesy, a separate nonprobate-adjacent interest)
Who inherits if there is no spouse
children/descendants -> father and mother equally (whole to survivor if one predeceased) -> siblings/descendants -> one moiety paternal grandparents, one moiety maternal (whole moiety to survivor if one predeceased) -> uncles/aunts/descendants -> stepchildren -> escheat (KRS 393.020).
If a DIY will fits your situation in Kentucky
In Kentucky, the statute above decides who inherits by default; a will is what lets you name the people you actually want, rather than leaving it to the intestacy ladder. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link; it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: REDUCED share; the outlier among this project’s states. KRS 391.050: ‘Collaterals of the halfblood shall inherit only half as much as those of the wholeblood, or as ascending kindred, when they take with either.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Kentucky property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.