Will Package — Married Couple
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ESTATE PLANNING — WILLS
Kentucky Will Package for Married Couples
Most married couples assume that if one of them dies, everything simply goes to the survivor. In Kentucky that is often true, and sometimes it is badly wrong. Which one applies to you depends on whether you have children from a previous relationship, how your deed is worded, and whose name is on each account.
A Kentucky will package for a married couple is two coordinated wills, drafted together so they work as one plan. We sit down with both of you, map what you own and how it is titled, and build a plan that protects the survivor first and your children second, in that order, because that is the sequence that actually plays out.
This page covers what Kentucky law gives a surviving spouse, how the 2026 changes to Kentucky inheritance law affect couples, what the package includes, and the blended-family traps we spend most of our time undoing. The initial consultation is free.
Both spouses are welcome at the same appointment, and most couples finish their plan in two visits. Call (502) 348-2108 to schedule.
What Is a Married Couple Will Package?
A married couple will package is a pair of coordinated wills, one for each spouse, drafted at the same time so their terms fit together. Each will typically leaves everything to the surviving spouse, then to the children when the second spouse dies, and names the executors, guardians and alternates the couple agree on.
They are sometimes called mirror wills or reciprocal wills. Each spouse signs a separate document, which matters: a single joint will signed by both people is difficult to change after the first death and we do not recommend one. Two coordinated wills give the survivor flexibility while still recording what you decided together.
The package also includes the lifetime documents each spouse needs individually. Spouses do not automatically have legal authority over each other finances or medical care in Kentucky, which is the single most common misconception we hear at the first meeting.
What Kentucky Gives a Surviving Spouse
Kentucky does not let one spouse disinherit the other, and it rewrote the relevant statutes effective July 15, 2026. Understanding the floor the law sets is what tells you how much work your wills actually need to do.
The intestate share, rewritten in 2026
Under the revised KRS 391.010, a surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate where there are no descendants, or where every descendant is also a descendant of that spouse. Where the deceased leaves a child who is not the surviving spouse child, the spouse takes one-half. This is a real change from prior Kentucky law, and it means a first-marriage couple with only joint children is in a very different position than a blended family. Almost everything published online about Kentucky intestacy still describes the old rule.
Dower, curtesy and the right to renounce
KRS 392.020 gives a surviving spouse a life estate in one-third of real property the deceased owned during the marriage but not at death, plus an absolute one-half of surplus personal property. Kentucky has no statute called an elective share; this dower and curtesy interest is the equivalent. If a will leaves the survivor less than the statute would, KRS 392.080 allows the spouse to renounce the will within six months after it is admitted to probate and take the statutory share instead.
The 2026 amendments also pulled beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death assets, jointly owned property and revocable trusts into the calculation of what a spouse can reach, with a two-year lookback on transfers. How those provisions interact is genuinely intricate, and it is a conversation to have with an attorney rather than a calculator.
What the Married Couple Package Includes
Two coordinated wills
One for each spouse, drafted together. Each names the other as primary beneficiary and executor, with the children or a trust as the contingent, plus alternates in case you are both gone.
Self-proving affidavits
Executed with each will under KRS 394.225 so neither estate needs to locate witnesses years later.
Guardian nominations for minor children
Both wills should nominate the same guardians under KRS 387.040, with agreed alternates. Inconsistent nominations are an invitation to a contested hearing.
Trust provisions for children
Rather than a lump sum at eighteen, most couples build a trust inside the will that holds a child share until an age you choose, with the trustee able to pay for education, health and support in the meantime.
Powers of attorney for each spouse
Marriage does not give you authority over your spouse accounts. Each spouse needs a durable financial power of attorney under KRS Chapter 457. See our page on powers of attorney and advance directives.
Advance directives and a titling review
Living will directives and healthcare surrogate designations for each spouse under KRS 311.621 to 311.643, plus a review of how your deed, vehicles and accounts are titled and who each beneficiary form names.
The Deed Is Where Couples Get Caught
Kentucky abolished the automatic right of survivorship between joint owners. Under KRS 381.120, if a deed conveys property to two people and says nothing more, the deceased owner half descends to their heirs or passes under their will. It does not vest in the survivor.
Survivorship exists in Kentucky only when the instrument says so. The language has to be there, in the deed, in words such as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common. A married couple who bought a house assuming survivorship was automatic can find the deceased spouse half sitting in probate.
Kentucky also still has no transfer-on-death deed for real property. A bill to create one passed the Senate in March 2026 and died in House committee, the fourth failed attempt since 2018. Anyone planning around a Kentucky TOD deed is planning around something that does not exist.
We read your actual deed at the first meeting. If survivorship language is missing, a corrective or new deed is usually a straightforward fix while both spouses are living, and a much harder problem afterward. See our deed preparation and real property transfer page.
Situations That Change the Plan
Two coordinated wills are simple when the family is simple. These are the circumstances that call for more than a mirror-image plan.
01
Children from a previous relationship
The core tension in a blended family: leave everything to your spouse and trust them to pass it to your children, or protect your children now and limit what the survivor controls. Leaving it all outright to the survivor means your children inherit only what is left, under whatever will the survivor signs later. A trust is usually the honest answer.
02
A significant difference in assets brought to the marriage
A farm, a business or an inheritance that one spouse brought in often should not simply merge into the survivor estate. How the property is titled matters as much as what the will says.
03
A spouse who may need long-term care
Nursing home costs are the largest threat to a married couple estate in Kentucky. Planning that protects the healthy spouse is time-sensitive and separate from your wills. See Medicaid planning.
04
An adult child with a disability
Leaving an inheritance outright to a child who receives SSI or Medicaid can disqualify them. A properly drafted special needs trust preserves both the inheritance and the benefits.
05
Property in more than one state
Real property is governed by the law of the state where it sits, and out-of-state land can mean a second, ancillary probate. A revocable trust often avoids that second proceeding entirely.
If more than one of these describes your family, a will package alone may not be the right tool. We will tell you that plainly at the free consultation rather than sell you documents that will not do the job. Call (502) 348-2108.
What Married Couples in Kentucky Actually Owe in Tax
Estate tax is the wrong thing for nearly every Kentucky couple to worry about. The federal estate tax exemption is fifteen million dollars per person for 2026, thirty million for a married couple using portability, and the 2025 legislation repealed the scheduled reduction, so the figure is now permanent and indexed for inflation. Almost no Kentucky family will pay it.
Kentucky abolished its own estate tax effective January 1, 2005. What Kentucky still has is an inheritance tax, which is charged to the person receiving the property rather than to the estate, and which surprises people because most states no longer have one.
The good news for couples is that Class A beneficiaries, which includes a surviving spouse, parents, children, grandchildren and siblings, have been fully exempt from Kentucky inheritance tax since 1998. Where the tax bites is Class B and Class C: nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, in-law children and more distant beneficiaries face rates from four to sixteen percent after a small exemption, and unrelated beneficiaries fare worse.
The practical takeaway is that a Kentucky couple planning conversation should be about probate avoidance, long-term care and who is left holding an inheritance tax bill, not about federal estate tax.
- You marry or remarry, or either spouse divorces a prior spouse
- A child or grandchild is born, adopted, or reaches adulthood
- You buy, sell or refinance real property, or discover the deed lacks survivorship language
- Either spouse receives a diagnosis that could affect capacity or bring on care needs
- A named executor, guardian or trustee dies, moves away or becomes unsuitable
- You move to Kentucky from another state, or buy property outside Kentucky
- Kentucky changes its inheritance law, as it did on July 15, 2026
Planning Together in Bardstown and Louisville
Kentucky Asset Protection is an elder law and estate planning practice led by Thomas Hamilton, admitted to the Kentucky bar in 2011 and focused on 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 drafts every plan personally.
We meet couples at our Bardstown office at 117 E. Stephen Foster Avenue and at the First Trust Centre, 200 S. 5th Street in Louisville, and we serve Nelson, Bullitt, Washington, Marion, Larue, Hardin, Anderson, Spencer and Jefferson counties.
Most couples finish in two appointments: one to design the plan, one to sign it with witnesses and a notary present. The first is free. Schedule a consultation or read more about our firm.
Common Mistakes We Correct for Couples
Assuming the deed carries survivorship
Under KRS 381.120 it does not unless it says so. We check the recorded deed rather than take anyone word for it, because this single omission sends half a house through probate.
Leaving everything outright in a blended family
It is the kind, trusting choice and it regularly disinherits the children of the first spouse to die. The survivor is free to sign a new will. A trust lets you provide for your spouse for life and still direct where the remainder goes.
Naming each other on the will but not on the beneficiary forms
Or worse, leaving a former spouse on a retirement account. KRS 394.092 revokes a gift to a former spouse in a will after divorce; it does nothing to a beneficiary designation. Those forms must be changed individually.
Signing a joint will
A single document signed by both spouses can create a binding contract that locks the survivor out of ever changing the plan, even when circumstances change completely. Two coordinated wills accomplish the same intent without the trap.
Believing marriage grants legal authority
It does not. Without a power of attorney, a spouse may need a court guardianship under KRS Chapter 387 to manage the other affairs, a proceeding that involves a petition, notice and a hearing.
Doing nothing because you cannot agree on a guardian
We see couples stall for years over one decision. Name someone now and revisit it later. An imperfect nomination is far better than leaving the choice entirely to a judge.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common Questions From Married Couples
Do my spouse and I each need our own will?
Yes. Each spouse signs a separate will, drafted at the same time so the two documents work together. A single joint will signed by both people can bind the survivor and prevent them from ever updating the plan, which is why we do not recommend one.
Can one spouse disinherit the other in Kentucky?
Not entirely. KRS 392.020 gives a surviving spouse a dower or curtesy interest, and KRS 392.080 lets the survivor renounce the will within six months after it is admitted to probate and take the statutory share instead. Kentucky has no separate elective share statute; this is the equivalent.
If our house is in both names, does it automatically go to the survivor?
Only if the deed says so. Kentucky abolished automatic survivorship in KRS 381.120, so a deed to two people creates a tenancy in common unless it expressly states a right of survivorship. We read the recorded deed at the first meeting, because this is one of the most common and most expensive assumptions in Kentucky property law.
What happens if we die at the same time?
Well drafted wills include a survivorship clause requiring a beneficiary to outlive the testator by a set period, commonly thirty days, and name contingent beneficiaries and guardians. Without that language, a simultaneous death can send property through two estates in sequence and reach people neither of you intended.
Will a will protect our home from nursing home costs?
No. A will only directs property after death and offers no protection from long-term care expenses during life. Protecting a home from those costs involves separate planning that generally must be done well before care is needed. Medicaid planning is a distinct conversation, and timing is what determines whether it works.
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Plan Together, While You Both Can
Every couple we meet says they meant to do this years ago. Schedule your free consultation with attorney Thomas Hamilton and leave with a plan that protects the survivor and your children. Call (502) 348-2108 or use the form below.
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117 E. Stephen Foster Avenue, Bardstown, KY 40004