Kentucky law, for title research

Kentucky transfer on death deed: no statute creating one found, and what KRS 391.360 says

Every rule below is quoted from the Kentucky Revised Statutes or another official source, linked and checked on the date shown. General information, not legal advice.

Does Kentucky have a transfer on death deed statute?

We found none. On 2026-11-08 we read the section files for all 753 chapters on the official Kentucky Revised Statutes index, 40,547 files with no fetch or parse errors, and searched each for transfer on death, TOD, beneficiary deed, deed upon death, enhanced life estate, life estate deed, lady bird, nonprobate and nontestamentary. Many files are repealed sections. Twenty-three sections matched, and none creates a form of deed that passes land at death by recording. The scan found the securities act we expected, which shows it can detect the terms.

That result has limits. It covers the statutes as posted that day, not uncodified acts, regulations, court decisions or clerks' practice, and an absence from statute is not a ruling that a given deed fails. Nothing on this page says a deed labeled transfer on death is void, or that it works.

What does KRS 391.360 say about conveyances?

Under KRS 391.360(1), a written provision for a nonprobate transfer on death in a listed instrument is nontestamentary. The list includes a trust, a conveyance, a deed of gift, and any other written instrument of a similar nature. The section says such provisions include one that any property controlled by or owned by the decedent before death, which is the subject of the instrument, shall pass to a person the decedent designates in the instrument or in a separate writing, including a will, executed before, at the same time, or after the instrument. Subsection (2) says the section does not limit creditors' rights under other laws.

The section does not name land, set a deed form, or say how such a provision is recorded, revoked or proved at death. We found no definition of nontestamentary in it, and our reading is that it means not treated as a will. Whether a particular deed works is a question for a Kentucky attorney.

An older section also bears on the idea. KRS 381.040 says any estate may be made to commence in the future by deed, in like manner as by will, and any estate which would be good as an executory devise or bequest shall be good if created by deed. KRS 382.010 says no estate of inheritance or freehold, or for a term of more than one year, shall be conveyed except by deed or will. Neither section mentions a transfer on death deed, a power to revoke, or a recording rule at death, so we do not read them as creating that kind of deed.

Where does transfer on death appear in Kentucky law?

Mostly away from land. KRS 292.6501 to 292.6512 cover securities registered in beneficiary form, and KRS 186A.037, marked effective January 1, 2028, covers motor vehicles. The general section is KRS 391.360. KRS 392.020 uses transfer on death designation in listing what counts as surplus personalty. KRS 395.015 mentions the term in the personal representative's application. The other hits use nontestamentary: KRS 391.325 on accounts, KRS 394.035 on disclaimers, and KRS 394.720 to 394.750 on electronic estate planning documents.

That electronic act excludes land by its words. KRS 394.720(5)(b) says a nontestamentary estate planning document under that act does not include a deed of real property, which concerns the electronic signature rules and is not a statement about deeds generally.

What if a Kentucky deed reserves a power to revoke?

We found no section on a transfer on death deed reserving one. We ran a second search for the idea rather than the label: a power to revoke, alter or amend near a conveyance, deed or grantor, a reserved power, and a life estate near a power. It returned 35 sections, about trusts, powers of appointment, advance directives, licenses, bylaws and other subjects, and none sets deed-specific rules for a recorded deed reserving a power to revoke. KRS 382.370 mentions a written revocation only for powers of attorney to convey.

KRS Chapter 390 governs powers of appointment and may be relevant. KRS 390.020(9) defines instrument as a writing, KRS 390.100(2) refers to a donor who reserves a power of revocation or amendment in the instrument creating the power, KRS 390.070 presumes a power general unless the terms manifest a contrary intent, and KRS 390.320(4) makes property under a general power created by the powerholder subject to creditors of the powerholder and the powerholder's estate, on its terms. Those sections do not speak of a transfer on death deed. Whether a reserved power in a deed would fall under that chapter is a question for an attorney. KRS 140.020(1) does address the tax side: the inheritance tax chapter applies to a transfer intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after death, including one where the transferor retained the possession, income or power to designate.

What about a lady bird or life estate deed in Kentucky?

The terms lady bird and enhanced life estate do not appear in the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Life estates and a life tenant with a power do. KRS 391.160 covers a devise, bequest or conveyance free of trust that gives a life tenant power to consume principal or invade corpus, with the remainder to another at death, where the instrument does not state the purpose or extent, and it limits the power in that case. That section addresses a life tenant's power to consume, and it does not say a grantor may keep a power to sell and pass the rest at death. Other sections deal with remainders: KRS 381.090 construes an estate to a person for life, then to heirs, issue or descendants, as a life estate only in that person, KRS 381.100 says a contingent remainder does not fail for want of a particular estate to support it, and KRS 381.110 says alienation of the particular estate does not defeat a remainder. KRS 262.900 defines reserved life estate only for property deeded to a nonprofit organization under that chapter.

We did not read court decisions on such deeds, so we state no view on whether one is effective.

Can a surviving spouse's dower reach the land?

It can, for land the spouse no longer held at death. KRS 392.020(1)(a) gives a surviving spouse, after an intestate death and in addition to the KRS 391.010 share, a life estate in one-third of any real estate the other spouse held in fee simple during the marriage but not at death, unless the right was barred, forfeited or relinquished. Our reading, for an attorney to confirm, is that a deed out without the spouse's release can leave that question open. KRS 392.070 speaks of recovering dower or curtesy against an heir, devisee or purchaser from the decedent. KRS 404.030(1) says a married woman's conveyance does not bar the husband's right to curtesy unless he joins in the instrument or releases his right by separate instrument, and that section speaks only of that direction. KRS 392.040 lists land in which a surviving spouse has no dower or curtesy, and KRS 392.120 says a jointure may bar the surviving spouse's interest.

KRS 392.020 was amended effective July 15, 2026. It now has rules on surplus real estate and surplus personalty, though no section we found defines surplus real estate or states a share in it, and subsection (1)(a) does not use the term. Subsection (5) includes all property held by or payable at the decedent's death to a trust over which the decedent held a power of revocation, and over which the decedent held a general power of appointment. The text joins those with and, and our reading, for an attorney to confirm, is that they are two categories. Subsection (6) says property transferred to a person or to a trust, other than one for the spouse, the decedent or a qualified charity, two years or more before death is not surplus, and less than two years before death is. Subsection (8) lets the surviving spouse sue a person receiving such property as needed to satisfy the claim. How these subsections treat land under a deed taking effect at death is not stated, so that question is for an attorney.

KRS 391.010 was amended in the same period and gives the surviving spouse the entirety or one-half on intestacy, depending on descendants. KRS 392.080 lets a surviving spouse release what a will gives and take the statutory share, with one-third of real estate held in fee simple at death in that case. Under KRS 392.080(1)(b), the relinquishment and certificate must be filed with the probate court clerk and the county clerk within six months after the will is admitted, subject to the rule for a will contest.

How must a Kentucky deed be made and recorded?

KRS 382.110(1) sends deeds required to be recorded to be effectual against purchasers without notice or creditors to the county clerk's office where the property, or the greater part of it, is located. Subsection (2) bars recording a deed of an interest equal to or greater than a life estate unless it plainly specifies and refers to the immediate source of the grantor's title. KRS 382.135 requires the full names and mailing addresses of grantor and grantee, the full consideration, the tax bill address, and a sworn notarized statement on consideration or a gift signed by the grantor and grantee or their agents, with listed exceptions.

KRS 382.270(1) says that, except as provided, a deed is not lodged for record, and so valid against a purchaser for value without notice or creditors, until acknowledged or proved according to law, but a deed not so acknowledged or proved that is otherwise lodged for record is deemed validly lodged, and all interested parties are on constructive notice of its contents. KRS 382.080(1) has a similar rule for deeds of title, and subsection (2) extends that protection to a creditor of, or innocent purchaser from, the heir or devisee of the grantor. KRS 382.110(8) says a deed is not invalid because it is lodged contrary to that section, and KRS 382.135(7) says recording a noncompliant instrument does not stop the record from becoming notice.

What provides for land at death instead?

Co-ownership has its own rules. KRS 381.050 says a conveyance or devise to husband and wife creates a tenancy in common unless a right by survivorship is expressly provided for, and a will does not defeat an express right of that kind. KRS 381.120 says a joint tenant's part descends to heirs, passes by devise or goes to the personal representative, subject to debts, curtesy, dower or distribution. KRS 381.130 excepts an estate where it manifestly appears from the instrument that the part of the one dying should belong to the others, and lets a joint tenant partition by a recorded deed or other instrument during life. Subsection (2)(b) says residential property owned exclusively by husband and wife as joint tenants with survivorship, and occupied by them as a principal residence, shall not be partitioned that way.

We make no statement here about which route suits an owner, which is a question for an attorney.

Does divorce change a deed naming a former spouse?

KRS 392.090(1) says absolute divorce bars all claim of either spouse to the property, real and personal, of the other after death. KRS 394.092 says a divorce or annulment revokes dispositions to a former spouse in a will, unless the will says otherwise. A search for divorce or annulment near revocation returned that section, a repealed one, and a power of attorney section, and none speaks of a deed. Whether KRS 392.090 reaches a provision in a deed is a question for an attorney.

Can creditors, Medicaid or the inheritance tax reach the land?

Each has its own text. Creditors keep their rights under other laws, by KRS 391.360(2), and KRS 390.320 addresses creditors where a general power of appointment created by the powerholder exists. KRS 396.011(1) bars most claims arising before death against the estate, personal representative, heirs and devisees unless presented within six months after the personal representative's appointment, or within two years after death with no appointment, and it excludes claims of the United States, the state and its subdivisions. It does not mention a person taking under a deed. Subsection (2) says nothing in it prevents a proceeding to enforce a mortgage, pledge, lien or other security interest, to the extent of the security.

On Medicaid, we found only passing mentions. KRS 205.290 refers to amounts recovered from a recipient of public assistance or the recipient's estate, KRS 210.290 lists estate recovery among bills the cabinet ensures are paid as a fiduciary, and KRS 304.14-640 refers to an exemption from Medicaid estate recovery in a long-term care partnership program. We found no section setting a rule for land passing by such a deed. We did not read federal law or Kentucky regulations, so ask an attorney. On the inheritance tax, KRS 140.190(2) says the heir, devisee or other donee is personally liable for the tax on real property, along with the personal representative or trustee, as that section provides. KRS 140.020(2) presumes a transfer of a material part of an estate within three years before death, without adequate consideration, to be in contemplation of death, and KRS 140.080(1)(a) exempts a surviving spouse's total inheritable interest, among the exemptions it lists.

What a title search checks after a Kentucky owner dies

Start with the last deed into the owner in the county clerk's records, and read how title was taken, along with any words about death, revocation or a reserved power. Then check each deed out during the marriage for the spouse's signature or release, since dower can reach land held during the marriage but not at death. Look for a later deed, a will recorded with the clerk, any recorded partition by a joint tenant, the descent affidavit KRS 382.120 calls for before a deed of inherited land is filed, and the personal representative's affidavit under KRS 382.135(4).

Next, look for mortgages, recorded liens and judgments, and a divorce decree if the record suggests one. The report shows what is of record, and whether a deed is effective, or who holds title, is for the parties and their attorney.

The Kentucky sections on this page, with their sources

Sources: KRS 381.040; KRS 391.360; KRS 390.320; KRS 292.6509; KRS 394.720; KRS 392.020; KRS 404.030; KRS 392.070; KRS 392.080; KRS 392.090; KRS 394.092; KRS 381.050; KRS 381.130; KRS 391.010; KRS 382.110; KRS 382.270; KRS 382.135; KRS 391.160; KRS 140.020; KRS 140.190; KRS 396.011. Each row links the section it summarizes.

Questions people ask

More on how Kentucky property law shapes a title search: title research in Kentucky.