How Do I Get Appointed as Executor in Kentucky?

In Kentucky, the District Court appoints the personal representative and the Circuit Court Clerk issues Letters of Appointment; every appointment goes through the court.

State

Document Type

Getting appointed in Kentucky

Personal Representative (executor if testate; administrator if intestate)

The form that opens the estate

AOC-805

Petition for Probate of Will; and/or Appointment of Executor/Administrator · Fillable PDF · View source

Start this petition for Kentucky — the builder fills it with your answers. You review, sign, and file it with the court.

Where you file

District Court (Probate Division)

What the court issues (with a will)

Letters of Appointment (executor) / Letters Testamentary

issued by Circuit Court Clerk

Letters are an output — the court issues them after granting the petition.

At a glance

UPC adoptedInformal trackE-filing (self-represented)Self-represented filingLocal/county forms

The AOC publishes a "Guide to Basic Kentucky Probate Procedures" for self-represented litigants, and the Self-Help Portal offers guided interviews for probate forms. The live eFiling system is KYeCourts eFiling (kcoj.kycourts.net/kyecourts); registration under SCO 2025-02 Sec. 6 is open to self-represented parties as well as attorneys. eFiling of probate cases is MANDATORY FOR ATTORNEYS under SCO 2023-39 (Probate-Testate, Probate-Intestate, and Petition to Dispense with Administration case types), but that mandate reaches only filings "by an attorney" — a self-represented filer may still file the AOC-805 packet on paper with the Circuit Court Clerk. Originals matter here: SCO 2025-41 replaced Sec. 15 of the eFiling Rules, and Sec. 15(4) requires that "when the law requires the filing of an original document, such as a will, voucher, bond, oath ... the eFiler must scan the original document and electronically transmit [it]" and then either retain the original, file it with the appropriate agency, or "file it conventionally with the court when necessary for actions involving original documents" — so the original will still has to reach the court on paper. Separately, the AOC is replacing KYeCourts with Tyler Technologies' File & Serve; as of this verification the AOC's own File & Serve page states the schedule was extended and the application has not launched, so File & Serve is a forthcoming system, not the one a filer uses today.

Bond

Required before Letters: No
Waivable by will: No
Waivable by beneficiaries: No

Other official forms

Letters form: AOC-807View source

What to file with the petition

Certified copy of the death certificate — commonly requested by the Circuit Court Clerk at intake, but NOT required by KRS 395.015, KRS 394.145 or the AOC-805 form itself; confirm with the county Circuit Court Clerk
Original will and any codicils, presented to the District Court for probate and recorded by the county clerk (KRS 394.140; KRS 394.300)
Written application/petition under oath listing the surviving spouse and heirs-at-law (AOC-805), filed in duplicate (KRS 395.015)
Separate written general financial disclosure statement of the decedent’s property, on AOC-808 "Financial Disclosure" (Doc. Code DF, Rev. 7-26), filed under seal with the application and confidential (KRS 395.015(3), as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134, effective July 15, 2026)
Proof of the will by a subscribing witness, unless self-proved or holographic (KRS 394.225-394.235, 394.040)
Fiduciary Bond (AOC-825, Rev. 7-26) only when the court orders surety under KRS 395.130(2) — no bond is required by default (KRS 395.130(1), as amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134, effective July 15, 2026)
Oath of the fiduciary, or the written declaration the amended statute permits in lieu of an oath, on AOC-809 "Declaration of Oath of Fiduciary" (Doc. Code DOF, Rev. 7-26) (KRS 395.120; KRS 62.030)

Small-estate alternative

Bypasses full Letters: Yes
Form: AOC-830View source
Form name: Petition to Dispense With Administration

State-specific notes

There is no separate fillable "Letters Testamentary"/"Letters of Administration" form in Kentucky; per KRS 395.105 the fiduciary "shall receive letters of appointment from the District Court," and under KRS 395.110 a certified copy of the order probating/appointing (AOC-805.1 testate; AOC-805.2 "Order Appointing Administrator (No Will)" intestate) — together with the Certificate of Qualification (AOC-807) — is "as effectual as the probate or letters made out in due form." (There is no AOC-806 in the AOC Legal Forms repository.) "Dispensing with administration" (AOC-830; KRS 395.450-395.455, 391.030) lets a surviving spouse or, if none, the surviving children take a personal estate covered by the $30,000 exemption, or a preferred creditor recover a paid preferred claim, without any appointment or letters issuing. 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134 (effective July 15, 2026, now in force) rewrites the appointment chapter: bond is no longer required by default (KRS 395.130(1)), the applicant signs an acknowledgment and may satisfy the oath by a declaration under penalty of perjury (KRS 395.015(1)(e), (4); KRS 395.120(2)), and the decedent’s asset schedule becomes a separately filed, sealed general financial disclosure statement (KRS 395.015(3)). The AOC posted its revised probate forms on the 7/15/2026 effective date — AOC-805, AOC-805.1 and AOC-805.2 are now Rev. 7-26 (AOC-807 stays Rev. 12-25); the Rev. 7-26 AOC-805 dropped its asset schedule and reframed the bond as opt-in ("If the court determines that a surety bond is required ..."). The two remaining post-Act instruments now have their own statewide fillable AOC forms as well: AOC-808 "Financial Disclosure" (Rev. 7-26) for the sealed KRS 395.015(3) statement, and AOC-809 "Declaration of Oath of Fiduciary" (Rev. 7-26) for the KRS 395.120(2) declaration.

General information about how a personal representative is appointed, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions. Data verified Aug 24, 2026

Kentucky uses Petition for Probate of Will; and/or Appointment of Executor/Administrator (AOC-805), filed with the District Court. Circuit Court Clerk issues Letters of Appointment after the court grants the petition.

Along with the petition, Kentucky generally requires: Certified copy of the death certificate — commonly requested by the Circuit Court Clerk at intake, but NOT required by KRS 395.015, KRS 394.145 or the AOC-805 form itself; confirm with the county Circuit Court Clerk; Original will and any codicils, presented to the District Court for probate and recorded by the county clerk (KRS 394.140; KRS 394.300); Written application/petition under oath listing the surviving spouse and heirs-at-law (AOC-805), filed in duplicate (KRS 395.015). The court's own checklist runs longer for particular cases.

Kentucky does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one.

Kentucky permits a self-represented person to open an estate, using Petition for Probate of Will; and/or Appointment of Executor/Administrator (AOC-805). E-filing is open to self-represented filers. The Kentucky self-file probate assessment sets self-filing against attorney costs.

Yes. A revocable living trust passes its assets to the beneficiaries without a court appointment in Kentucky: no petition, no Letters, no bond. A revocable trust built with SimplyTrust takes about fifteen minutes.

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