Plan Review, Amendment & Restatement
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ESTATE PLANNING — PLAN REVIEW
Estate Plan Review, Amendment and Restatement in Kentucky
If your estate plan was signed before July 15, 2026, it was drafted under a different version of Kentucky inheritance law. Kentucky rewrote its intestacy statute and its spousal rights statute that day, and the changes are substantial enough that plans built on the old rules deserve a fresh look.
That is on top of the ordinary reasons plans go stale. Beneficiary forms drift, executors move away, children grow up, deeds turn out to say something different from what everyone assumed, and the federal estate tax landscape changed completely in 2025.
A plan review is a straightforward appointment. We read what you actually signed, check how your property is titled, compare both against current Kentucky law, and tell you honestly whether you need nothing, a small amendment, or a rebuild. Many reviews end with us telling clients their plan is fine.
Bring your documents, however old. Call (502) 348-2108 to book a free plan review with attorney Thomas Hamilton.
What Is an Estate Plan Review?
An estate plan review is a structured examination of the documents you have already signed, measured against your current family, your current assets and current Kentucky law. It covers your will or trust, your powers of attorney, your advance directives, the deed to your home, and the beneficiary designation on every account.
The review is diagnostic. It tells you what still works, what has quietly stopped working, and what has become actively risky. Where changes are needed, we explain the difference between amending a document, restating it, and replacing it, and what each costs.
The most valuable part is usually not the documents at all. It is the titling and beneficiary audit, because that is where plans fail in practice. A perfect will means nothing if the accounts pass to someone else by designation.
Two Legal Changes That Dated Most Existing Plans
Estate planning documents are usually revisited because of a change in the family. Right now there are two changes in the law itself that affect nearly every Kentucky plan signed before 2026.
Kentucky rewrote its inheritance law on July 15, 2026
The 2026 act amended KRS 391.010, so a surviving spouse now takes the entire intestate estate where there are no descendants or where all descendants are shared, and one half where the deceased left a child who is not the spouse child. It also rewrote KRS 392.020, extending a surviving spouse claim beyond probate property to reach beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death assets, jointly held property and revocable trusts, with a two-year lookback on transfers. Kentucky additionally adopted electronic wills at KRS 394.700 to 394.715. Plans drafted before that date were built on different assumptions.
The federal estate tax sunset was repealed
For years, plans were drafted in anticipation of the federal exemption falling by roughly half after 2025. That reduction was repealed by the 2025 federal legislation. The exemption is fifteen million dollars per person for 2026, thirty million for a married couple, permanent and indexed for inflation. Many Kentucky plans still contain bypass or credit shelter trust provisions designed for a much lower threshold, adding complexity and cost for a tax almost no Kentucky family will ever owe.
Neither change makes an old plan invalid. A will properly executed in 2015 is still a valid will. What changes is whether the plan still produces the outcome you wanted, and whether it contains machinery you no longer need.
What a Plan Review Covers
Your will or trust
Whether it was validly executed under KRS 394.040, whether it has a self-proving affidavit under KRS 394.225, whether the beneficiaries, executors, trustees and guardians named are still the right people, and whether the terms still match your intent.
Trust funding
The most common defect we find. We check what is actually titled in the name of the trust and what was left behind, because an unfunded trust sends everything through the probate you paid to avoid.
The deed to your home
We pull the recorded deed rather than rely on memory. Under KRS 381.120 a deed to two people creates a tenancy in common unless survivorship is expressly stated, and that omission is common enough that we look every time.
Beneficiary designations
Retirement accounts, life insurance, annuities and payable-on-death accounts pass by designation and override your will. Stale designations naming a former spouse or a deceased parent are the single most frequent problem we correct.
Powers of attorney and advance directives
Whether your financial power of attorney under KRS Chapter 457 grants the specific powers KRS 457.245 requires to be expressly stated, including gifting and beneficiary changes, and whether your healthcare documents still name the right person.
Long-term care exposure
Whether your plan does anything about nursing home costs, and if not, whether it should. Timing is decisive here, so this is a question worth asking early rather than in a crisis.
Amendment, Restatement, or Start Again?
Once we know what needs to change, there are three ways to make the change, and the right one depends on how much is moving.
An amendment changes a specific provision and leaves the rest in place. For a trust, this is a short amendment document signed alongside the original. For a will, the equivalent is a codicil, and we rarely recommend one. A codicil has to be executed with the same formalities as a will and creates two documents that must be read together, which is an invitation to confusion or a contest. Where a will needs changing, signing a new will is usually cleaner and costs little more.
A restatement rewrites the trust from front to back while keeping the original trust in existence. This matters practically: because the trust itself never terminates, the deed to your house and the retitled accounts stay valid and nothing has to be refunded. For a trust with several changes, a restatement is almost always the right answer.
Starting over means a new trust or a new will, and for a trust it means funding everything again. We reserve it for plans that are structurally wrong for the family rather than merely out of date.
When to Have Your Plan Reviewed
As a rule, every three to five years, and immediately after any of the following.
01
A death, marriage, or divorce
Divorce revokes the provisions of your will favoring a former spouse under KRS 394.092, but it does not touch beneficiary designations on retirement accounts or life insurance. Those have to be changed by hand, and an ex-spouse inheriting a retirement account years after the decree is a situation we see more often than you would think.
02
A birth, adoption, or a child reaching adulthood
Guardian nominations expire in usefulness, and a trust that holds a child share until twenty-five reads differently when the child is thirty.
03
A move into or out of Kentucky
A will valid where it was signed is generally still valid here, but the plan may be built around another state law. Powers of attorney and advance directives in particular are worth reissuing in Kentucky form so no bank or hospital hesitates.
04
Buying, selling or refinancing real property
New property has to be titled into a trust deliberately. A refinance sometimes quietly moves a house back out of a trust, and no one notices until it matters.
05
A diagnosis or a decline in health
This is the point at which the window for some planning begins to close. Capacity is required to sign new documents, and long-term care planning is far more effective before care is needed. See elder law planning.
If it has been more than five years, or if your plan predates July 2026, book the review. It is free, and most take under an hour. Call (502) 348-2108.
Reviewing a Plan Drafted by Another Attorney
We review plans drafted elsewhere regularly, and we do it without an agenda. If the plan is sound, we will tell you so and you will owe us nothing for the consultation.
It helps to bring the originals rather than copies, along with a recent statement for each account, the deed to your home if you have it, and a list of who is named on each beneficiary form. If you cannot find the originals, that is itself worth discussing: a Kentucky will that cannot be produced at death may be presumed revoked, which is a problem best solved while you are here to solve it.
Plans drafted out of state get particular attention. A trust drafted under another state law can still be administered in Kentucky, but provisions written around that state homestead protections, spousal rights or transfer-on-death deeds may not translate. Kentucky, notably, still has no transfer-on-death deed for real property, so a plan that relies on one needs a different mechanism here.
We will also say plainly if something in a prior plan concerns us. That is the point of an independent review.
- Your original will, trust, powers of attorney and advance directives
- Any amendments, codicils or restatements signed since
- The recorded deed to your home and any other real property
- A recent statement for each bank, brokerage and retirement account
- The named beneficiary on each retirement account and life insurance policy
- Business documents, if you own an interest in a company or farm
- A list of anything that has changed in your family since you signed
Free Plan Reviews in Bardstown and Louisville
Thomas Hamilton has been admitted in Kentucky since 2011 and has practiced elder law since 2014. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association Elder Law Section and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and he conducts every review personally.
We meet clients at 117 E. Stephen Foster Avenue in Bardstown and at the First Trust Centre, 200 S. 5th Street in Louisville, serving Nelson, Bullitt, Washington, Marion, Larue, Hardin, Anderson, Spencer and Jefferson counties.
There is no charge for the initial review and no obligation to change anything. Schedule a consultation or read more about our firm.
What We Most Often Find
A trust that was never funded
The single most common finding. The trust exists, the house is still titled in the individual name, and the plan would have produced a full probate. Usually fixed with a deed and a few account changes.
A beneficiary form naming the wrong person
A former spouse, a parent who has died, or an estate named as beneficiary when a person was intended. These override the will entirely and take minutes to correct.
A deed with no survivorship language
KRS 381.120 means the deceased owner half passes to their heirs, not to the co-owner. Straightforward to correct while both owners are living; a probate matter afterward.
A power of attorney missing express powers
KRS 457.245 requires that certain authorities be expressly granted, including making gifts, changing beneficiary designations and creating or funding a trust. A general form without them can stop a Medicaid plan cold at the moment it is needed.
Bypass trust machinery built for a tax that will not apply
Provisions designed for a much lower federal exemption that now add administrative burden and cost for no benefit. Often removable by restatement.
Documents that cannot be found
A Kentucky will last known to be in the testator possession and missing at death can be presumed revoked. If the original is lost, we address it now rather than leave the family to litigate it.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions About Updating a Plan
When should I update my estate plan?
Review it after any marriage, divorce, birth, adoption, death of a beneficiary or fiduciary, significant change in assets, or a move to another state, and otherwise every three to five years. Kentucky rewrote parts of its inheritance law effective July 15, 2026, so any plan signed before then is worth a look.
Can I just write changes on my existing will?
No. Handwritten alterations to a signed will are generally ineffective and can cast doubt on the whole document. Kentucky permits revocation only by a later will or codicil, by a writing executed with the same formalities as a will, or by physically destroying the will with the intent to revoke, under KRS 394.080. Changes must be made with the same formality as the original.
What is the difference between amending and restating a trust?
An amendment changes specific provisions and leaves the rest of the trust intact. A restatement rewrites the trust entirely while keeping the original trust in existence, which means the deed to your home and your retitled accounts remain valid and nothing has to be funded again. Where several changes are needed, a restatement is usually cleaner.
Is my out-of-state will valid in Kentucky?
Generally a will validly executed under the law of the state where it was signed will be recognized in Kentucky. That does not mean the plan still fits. Provisions built around another state homestead rules, spousal rights or transfer-on-death deeds may not work here, and Kentucky has no transfer-on-death deed for real property at all. Powers of attorney and advance directives are worth reissuing in Kentucky form.
What does a plan review cost?
The initial review consultation is free. If changes are needed we quote a flat fee for the work before you decide, and many reviews conclude with no changes required at all.
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Find Out If Your Plan Still Works
A plan that no longer matches your family or current Kentucky law is worse than no plan, because it creates false confidence. Bring your documents in for a free review with attorney Thomas Hamilton. Call (502) 348-2108 or use the form below.
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117 E. Stephen Foster Avenue, Bardstown, KY 40004