Probate FAQs

A Last Will and Testament (a Will) is a legal document that allows a person to identify individuals who are to inherit his or her assets after death. Although there are laws that determine what needs to be stated in the Will to be considered valid, the actual process of “probating” or “proving” the document to be valid in a court is what permits the terms of the Will to be enforceable. These laws may vary slightly from state to state but basically, they provide that the person making the Will (called the Testator) must be over 18 years old, of sound mind, and of disposing memory. Additionally, the Testator must have died. Proving or acknowledging under oath that the Testator has died is the prerequisite to offering a Will to probate, because without this happening a proposed written Will is not only unenforceable, but it is always subject to change by the Testator making a subsequent Will revoking the prior one.

It is always important to know what the laws are with regard to documents that purport to be Last Wills and Testament. If you have questions about Wills, call Fred Simon Law at 502-558-8576 to discuss your situation today.

As part of your duties as an estate Administrator or Executor, Kentucky law requires that you file certain papers and reports in the court case at specified times. Among these are the Inventory, which is due two months after the appointment and the estate settlement within two years of the appointment. The delay or failure of the personal representative to comply with these laws (and other deadlines imposed by the court) can lead to fines as much as ten dollars ($10.00) a day and/or your removal of the Administrator or Executor of the estate. In cases where the personal representative wants to take a fee for his or her services, the law gives the judge the discretion to deny compensation for noncompliance with the rules.

It is always important to know what laws apply to the duties of an estate’s personal representative and to be timely in the performance of one’s legal obligations to the court. If you have received a delinquency notice from the Probate Court or need help in meeting the deadlines, we can help you. Call Fred Simon Law at 502-558-8576 to discuss your situation today.

In Kentucky, only the original signed version of a Last Will and Testament can be officially recognized and validated in probate court. ​ If the original will cannot be found, the law assumes that the person who made the will (the testator) destroyed it to revoke it. ​ However, this assumption can be challenged if there is strong evidence showing that the testator did not intend to revoke the will. ​

If you only have a signed scanned copy of the will, it can’t be easily probated. ​ To use the copy, you must provide clear and convincing evidence that the original will was not destroyed on purpose. ​ This means you need to prove that the testator did not intend to cancel the will. ​

If you need help with this process, you can contact Fred Simon Law at 502-558-8576 for assistance. ​

An Informal Settlement is a simpler way to wrap up the affairs of someone who has passed away without going through a detailed and formal process. ​ Normally, the person in charge (called the Executor or Administrator) must list all the property, pay off debts, and show how everything is divided among the heirs. ​ This involves filing paperwork and having a court hearing where people can raise any concerns. ​

But with an Informal Settlement, the personal representative can skip a lot of this by getting everyone who receives something to sign a form saying they don’t need a detailed report and that all debts are taken care of. ​ This makes the process faster and cheaper because it avoids extra legal steps and fees. ​

If you need help with this process or would like more information about an Informal Settlement, contact Fred Simon Law at (502) 558-8576 today. ​

The attorney who creates a Last Will and Testament usually adds a notation as the preparer at the end of the document. It used to be common for a lawyer or law firm to retain the original signed Will but that practice has been mostly abandoned. Some might claim that the purpose of keeping the original Will was not just for safe-keeping but to assure that the same attorney be contacted after a person dies to be hired to handle the probate estate.

Back then, and even today there is no Kentucky law that requires the lawyer who prepared a Will to represent the Executor of the estate. In addition, attorneys have always been prohibited by the rules of professional conduct from “writing themselves into a Will” as a beneficiary and providing that they be retained for the estate (which provisions are unenforceable).

If you have a question about probating a Will, we can help you. Call Fred Simon Law at 502-558-8576 to discuss your situation today.

Kentucky does assess an inheritance tax on the right to receive assets under a Last Will and Testament or according to the laws of descent and distribution (when there is no Will). Beginning in 1995, the law began phasing out the tax for children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings. Since 1998, these beneficiaries or heirs have been totally exempted from paying inheritance tax. Spouses had been exempted from paying inheritance tax since 1985.

Currently the law only requires Class B Beneficiaries such as aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and great-grandchildren, and Class C Beneficiaries such as cousins, friends, non-exempt organizations, and anyone else to pay taxes based on a percentage of the inheritance value. It is important to note that unless a Will states otherwise, the person receiving the inheritance is required to pay the tax, not the estate. This can be a real concern when real estate is left to a Class C Beneficiary who doesn’t have the financial means to pay the inheritance tax.

If you have a question about Kentucky inheritance taxes, we can help you. Call Fred Simon Law at 502-558-8576 to discuss your situation today.