Kentucky timeline
Kentucky probate timeline and creditor deadlines
The waiting-period requirement has not been verified, so no number is published below.
Kentucky creditor deadlines are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
The one date this page can source
No waiting-period number is published for the surviving-spouse/children $30,000 exemption (krs 391.030); dispensing with administration when exemption plus preferred claims cover the estate (krs 395.455) route. KRS 395.455 conditions dispensing with administration on the exempt-property/preferred-claims arithmetic rather than a fixed waiting period; no statutory waiting-day figure was stated in the harvested text. Read: KRS 395.455.
P e rsona l prope rty or money on ha nd or in a ba nk or other de posi tory to t he a mount of thi rty thous a nd doll a rs ($30, 000) sha ll be e x e mptKRS 391.030 — Kentucky Legislature (Kentucky Revised Statutes); E f f ec t iv e: J u ly 1 5 , 2 0 2 0.
Creditor deadlines
- From appointment of the representative
- Within six (6) months after the appointment of the personal representative (KRS 396.011(1)).
- Outer limit, running from death
- Where no personal representative has been appointed, within two (2) years after the decedent's death (KRS 396.011(1)); claims not presented are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees.
How these combine. KRS 396.011 sets Kentucky's non-claim bar as one clock keyed to appointment: all pre-death claims are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees unless presented within six (6) months after the appointment of the personal representative, or where no personal representative has been appointed, within two (2) years after the decedent's death. Both periods are stated in months/years, so they are carried as descriptions rather than fixed day counts; the six-month period runs from appointment, and the two-year period is the outer bar when no representative is ever appointed.
unless pre se nted withi n six (6) mont hs a fte r the a ppoint ment of the pe rsona l re pre se ntative, or whe re no pe rsona l re pre se ntative ha s be e n a ppoint e d, withi n two ( 2) y e a rs a fte r the de c e de nt' s de a th.KRS 396.011 — Kentucky Legislature (Kentucky Revised Statutes); E f f ec t iv e: J u n e 2 9 , 2 0 2 1.
General sequence: first week, how long probate takes.
Kentucky record: 5/5 verified, 17 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction