I have previously advised that, in my opinion and experience, the heavily advertised “revocable trusts” are unnecessary for most people and can create problems that are unforeseen. The most common of those problems is funding. A revocable trust controls only the property that has actually been transferred into it. Deeds must be drafted and recorded, bank and brokerage accounts retitled, and beneficiary designations reviewed. In practice, that step is often left undone. The family then discovers, at the worst possible time, that the trust they paid for is largely empty, that the assets must go through probate anyway, and that they have paid for a trust, a pour-over will, and an estate proceeding rather than one of the three.
The one irrefutable argument that the advocates of revocable trusts used was that if an estate was opened in Probate Court, the assets of the estate became a matter of public record. Effective July 15, 2026, the Kentucky legislature has changed the law. Going forward, K.R.S. 395.015 provides that the financial information of an estate is filed “under seal”. That means that the assets of an estate are no longer disclosed to the general public.
Under the amended statute, the applicant files a separate general financial disclosure statement identifying the decedent’s property — furniture and household goods; personal effects, including jewelry and collectibles; stocks, bonds, bank accounts, and retirement accounts that do not pass outside the estate; insurance payable to the estate; real property not held jointly with right of survivorship; and interests in partnerships or other entities. That statement is placed under seal when filed and is disclosed only to the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney, the beneficiaries and heirs at law, and otherwise only by order of the court on a showing of good cause, such as a creditor who has filed a verified claim. The companion amendment to K.R.S. 395.250 treats the inventory and appraisement the same way. The change applies to applications filed on or after July 15, 2026.
One caution is in order. The will itself, once probated, remains a public record, as do the order appointing the personal representative and the docket of the case. What the new law seals are the dollar figures — the account balances, the values, the schedule of what the decedent owned. If the concern is privacy as to the amount of the estate, the statute answers it. If the concern is that a neighbor may read the terms of the will, a trust may still be a consideration.
The process of probate in Kentucky, for most estates, is a relatively manageable process. The estate is opened in the District Court of the county where the decedent resided. The personal representative is appointed, the inventory is filed within sixty days, creditors are given their statutory period to present claims, and a settlement is filed at the conclusion. Many simple estates are closed within a year. Smaller estates may qualify to dispense with administration altogether, and property held jointly with right of survivorship or payable to a named beneficiary passes outside the estate without any court involvement at all.
In most cases involving simple estates, the cost is less than the fees charged for creating a revocable trust. This new statute should be considered when planning your estate.