Kentucky: Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements

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).