Letter asking for the balance on the date of death in Kentucky

A short letter that asks a bank or other holder for the value of the person's accounts on the date of death. Banks usually want this before the estate is settled.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

What to expect

A bank may ask for a certified death certificate and proof that you are allowed to ask. The bank decides what it will release and when.

Bank accounts after a death in Kentucky

Accounts with a payable-on-death beneficiary or a surviving joint owner pass outside probate. For an account in the person's name alone, the bank needs a court paper: an order dispensing with administration, an order setting apart the spouse's exemption, or letters of a personal representative. A surviving spouse can get a court order to withdraw up to $2,500 from the person's account before the exemption is set apart.

Law: KRS 391.030, 391.360, 395.455

Source: Official page

Do bank accounts count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Bank accounts in the person's name alone
Counts

Accounts in the person's name alone count.

Law: KRS 395.455; form AOC-830

Joint or payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
Left out

Accounts that pass to a payable-on-death beneficiary or a surviving joint owner are nonprobate transfers and are not listed as estate assets.

Law: KRS 391.360; form AOC-830

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Kentucky

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: KRS 391.360

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Kentucky

Order by mail with form VS-31, by phone at (800) 241-8322, or online through VitalChek. A certified copy costs $6, and each additional copy is $6; phone and online orders add a card fee. The fee is a non-refundable search fee.

Law: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics, form VS-31 (Rev. 12.20.2023)

Where to get it
Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics, 275 East Main Street 1E-A, Frankfort, KY 40621; (502) 564-4212
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Kentucky

The surviving spouse (or, if none, the children) is entitled to $30,000 of personal property or money, set apart by the District Court free from distribution and sale; the spouse can get an order to withdraw up to $2,500 from a bank first. Where that exemption plus preferred claims equals or exceeds the assets, the court can dispense with administration. The spouse also has a dower or curtesy interest: an absolute one-half of the surplus personal property (which, for deaths on or after July 15, 2026, includes payable-on-death, beneficiary-designated and survivorship assets, but not life insurance) and a life estate in one-third of real estate owned during the marriage but not at death.

Petition to Dispense with Administration (KRS 395.455; form AOC-830)

A short petition to the District Court. If the court grants it, the court orders that no estate needs to be opened and that the listed personal property, such as bank accounts and vehicles, be transferred to the surviving spouse, the children, or the person who paid the funeral and other preferred bills.

Limit

Up to $30,000 (deaths on or after July 15, 2020) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of deathLimit
On or after July 15, 2020
$30,000
On or before July 14, 2020
$15,000

The person's probate assets, minus the preferred claims paid (such as funeral and administration costs), can be worth no more than $30,000, the amount of the surviving spouse's or children's exemption. A person who has paid preferred claims can also use it if the assets are worth no more than the claims paid. Before July 15, 2020, the exemption was $15,000.

What counts

The value of the person's probate assets, minus preferred claims that the spouse, children or petitioner paid (such as administration costs and funeral expenses), compared with the $30,000 spouse-and-children exemption. Alternatively, the assets cannot be worth more than the preferred claims the petitioner paid.

Waiting period

The law sets no waiting period.

Who can use it

The surviving spouse; if there is no spouse, the surviving children; or a person who paid preferred claims, or the assignee of those claims, if there is no spouse or the spouse or children waived the exemption. The court can order the assets transferred to a person the spouse designates.

Court or where to file

The District Court of the county where the person lived (the court that would handle the estate).

Notary

The petition is verified and sworn before a notary.

Papers to attach
  • Certified death certificate (the court clerk usually asks for it)
  • List of the assets and their approximate values, with the VIN of any vehicle
  • Receipts for the preferred claims paid, such as funeral bills
  • Waivers (AOC-831) from other children or from the spouse, if needed
  • The original will, if there is one and you ask the court to probate it at the same time
Steps
  1. List the person's probate assets and their values.
  2. Gather receipts for funeral and other preferred claims you paid.
  3. Fill in form AOC-830 and sign it before a notary; attach any AOC-831 waivers.
  4. File it with the District Court clerk in the county where the person lived and pay the court costs.
  5. If the judge grants it, take certified copies of the order to the bank, the county clerk (for vehicles) and other holders.
Fee

Court costs are charged when you file; ask the District Court clerk.

Law: KRS 395.450, 395.455, 391.030 (KRS 395.455 as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134, effective July 15, 2026)

Source: Official page

Who inherits with no will in Kentucky

For deaths on or after July 15, 2026: the surviving spouse inherits everything if the person left no descendants, or if all the person's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants; otherwise the spouse inherits half. The rest, or everything if there is no spouse, goes to children and their descendants, then to parents, then to brothers and sisters and their descendants, then half to the father's side and half to the mother's side (grandparents, then aunts and uncles), then to stepchildren. The spouse also has the dower or curtesy share described above.

Law: KRS 391.010, 392.020 (as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134, SB 50, effective July 15, 2026)

Source: Official page

Good to know in Kentucky

  • Kentucky has no small estate affidavit; the shortcut is a District Court order dispensing with administration when the assets, after preferred claims, do not exceed the $30,000 spouse-and-children exemption.
  • For deaths on or after July 15, 2026, a surviving spouse inherits ahead of the person's parents and siblings.
  • Kentucky has no transfer on death deed; a 2026 bill to create one was not enacted.

Changes in 2024–2026

2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134, signed April 13, 2026, effective July 15, 2026: rewrote intestate succession so the surviving spouse takes all or half of the estate ahead of parents and siblings; revised dower/curtesy so the spouse's one-half of surplus personalty includes POD, TOD, beneficiary-designated and survivorship assets (not life insurance); amended KRS 395.455 (dispensing with administration) and 395.470 (dispensing by agreement now available only after probate, appointment of a personal representative and advertisement for creditors). Form AOC-830 revised 1-26. SB 34 (2026, transfer on death deeds and vehicle TOD) passed the Senate but stalled in the House.

Law: SB 50; KRS 391.010; KRS 392.020

Related pages

Free help in Kentucky

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.