Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in Kentucky

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The current deadline is 90 days, not two months

KRS § 395.250 now requires the personal representative to file no later than 90 days after qualifying. The July 15, 2026 amendment replaced the former two-month return rule and made the inventory confidential and sealed. The clerk sends a copy to the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue.

Current Kentucky Court of Justice Form AOC-841 is marked “Rev. 7-26” and tells the clerk to file it under seal. The fiduciary signs the form as executor or administrator and submits it as a full and complete inventory. The form has no separate oath, notary, witness, or appraiser signature block.

The statewide form supplies the asset and valuation fields

AOC-841 organizes the inventory into real property, motor vehicles, personal property, cash and cash equivalents, and other estate assets. It asks for a description and address for real property, a description and VIN for vehicles, and an account type for cash equivalents. Each line uses value at the date of death, and the form totals the estimated value.

Neither KRS § 395.250 nor current AOC-841 requires a separate professional appraisal, identifies appraiser qualifications, or asks an appraiser to sign. Section 395.250 also does not prescribe a valuation method or an item-level encumbrance field. Additional asset-or-value documents ordinarily may be filed only after a motion and good-cause showing, and any filed document receives the same confidentiality protection.

Authorized copies remain controlled after disclosure

The personal representative must furnish a filed copy to a requesting person authorized under KRS § 395.015(3)(c), or to a person receiving court-ordered asset-and-liability disclosure. The statutory group includes the personal representative, the representative's attorney, and any beneficiary or heir at law. A court may order disclosure for good cause, including to a creditor who filed a verified claim.

A recipient of sealed records may not copy, reproduce, or release the information without specific authorization from the qualifying court. A violation can support contempt. Copies of the inventory or appraisement become prima facie evidence for or against the representative only when required and court-approved for release for that purpose.

Omissions and bad values require an amended inventory

KRS § 395.250(4) requires an amended filing when omitted property becomes known or when the representative learns that an item's value or description is erroneous or misleading. It states no general number of days for that ordinary amendment.

A special 20-day deadline applies after a court determines that someone holds an estate asset with no adverse claim and orders delivery to the representative. The representative must account for that recovered asset in an amended inventory within 20 days after entry of the order.

Delinquency starts a staged enforcement process

KRS § 395.255 requires the clerk to report overdue fiduciaries monthly. The judge gives notice, warns of penalties, and fixes a filing date. If the fiduciary misses that extended date, the court orders a show-cause appearance addressing removal, contempt, a statutory fine, denial of compensation, or another authorized fiduciary-duty consequence. Missing the hearing results in automatic removal.

An extension following a hearing generally may not exceed 30 days unless a Circuit Court estate-settlement suit is pending or the fiduciary shows good cause. The $100-per-day fine in KRS § 395.990 is not automatic on day 91: it applies when, without good cause, the fiduciary fails to file after the date fixed in a notice under § 395.255.

What trips people up

Older sources still say two months and duplicate filing. Current law uses a 90-day deadline, a sealed court filing, and clerk transmission to Revenue.

The opening financial disclosure is not the inventory. KRS § 395.015 requires a separate sealed disclosure with the appointment application; the inventory follows after qualification under § 395.250.

Supporting valuation papers are not routine attachments. Section 395.250(7) requires a motion and good cause before the court orders additional asset-or-value documents filed.

Common questions

Must a Kentucky estate hire an appraiser?

Not under the cited statewide inventory authorities. Current AOC-841 asks the fiduciary for death-date values and a total estimated value but contains no appraiser field or signature.

Does every creditor receive the inventory?

No. A creditor enters the court-order route by showing good cause, including a verified estate claim. The inventory otherwise stays sealed and subject to the recipient limits in KRS §§ 395.015 and 395.250.

When does the daily fine begin?

After the fiduciary, without good cause, misses the date fixed in a notice under KRS § 395.255. Section 395.990 does not make the fine begin automatically when the initial 90 days expire.

Statutes and sources

• KRS § 395.015(3)(c)-(d) — authorized sealed-record recipients and the good-cause privacy standard: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57668 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• KRS § 395.250 — 90-day filing, sealing, Revenue copy, controlled disclosure, amendments, withheld assets, additional documents, and penalty cross-references: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57677 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• KRS §§ 395.255 and 395.990 — delinquency notices, extensions, show-cause consequences, automatic removal for nonappearance, and notice-triggered $100 daily fine: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57678 and https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=57694 (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Kentucky Court of Justice Form AOC-841, Rev. 7-26 — statewide sealed inventory categories, date-of-death value fields, fiduciary signature, total, and clerk's Revenue certificate: https://www.kycourts.gov/Legal-Forms/Legal%20Forms/841.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).