Complex Will with Trust - Kentucky

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME]

KENTUCKY EXECUTION NOTICE

This body is a paper-will form. Under KRS 394.040, a paper will must be in writing, subscribed by the Testator or by another person in the Testator's presence and at the Testator's direction. Unless wholly written by the Testator, it must be subscribed or acknowledged in the presence of at least two credible witnesses, who sign in the presence of the Testator and each other.

Kentucky's Uniform Electronic Wills Act, KRS 394.700 to 394.715, became effective July 15, 2026. An electronic will is a separate execution method. KRS 394.706 requires a readable electronic record, prescribed signatures, and at least two witnesses who are Kentucky residents and physically located in Kentucky when signing. If electronic presence is used, the electronic-will and remote-notarization requirements must be followed exactly. Do not convert this paper form into an electronic will without Kentucky counsel and a separate execution protocol.

ARTICLE I — DECLARATIONS

I, [TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], residing in [COUNTY] County, Kentucky, declare this instrument to be my Last Will and Testament.

I am at least eighteen years old and of sound mind as required by KRS 394.020. I revoke my prior wills and codicils to the extent permitted by KRS 394.080.

My family information is:

• Spouse: [SPOUSE FULL LEGAL NAME / NONE]
• Child: [CHILD FULL LEGAL NAME], born [DATE]
• Child: [CHILD FULL LEGAL NAME], born [DATE]
• Other descendants or persons to address: [LIST / NONE]

The terms “descendants” and “by representation” must be reviewed for the Testator's intended family structure, including adoption, assisted reproduction, nonmarital children, stepchildren, and descendants conceived or born after execution.

ARTICLE II — PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE

I nominate [PRIMARY PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE] as Personal Representative. If that person does not serve or ceases to serve, I nominate [SUCCESSOR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE].

I request that no bond be required except as a court may require. My Personal Representative may exercise powers granted by this Will and Kentucky law, subject to fiduciary duties and court authority.

My Personal Representative shall pay enforceable expenses of administration, funeral expenses, taxes, and claims in the order and manner required by law. Insert a separately reviewed tax-apportionment direction:

[TAX APPORTIONMENT INSTRUCTION OR “APPORTION AS PROVIDED BY APPLICABLE LAW”]

ARTICLE III — GIFTS BEFORE THE RESIDUE

3.1 Specific Gifts

I make the following gifts:

1. [DESCRIPTION OR AMOUNT] to [BENEFICIARY], if that Beneficiary survives me by [30] days.
2. [DESCRIPTION OR AMOUNT] to [BENEFICIARY], if that Beneficiary survives me by [30] days.
3. [DESCRIPTION OR AMOUNT] to [CHARITY AND IDENTIFYING INFORMATION].

If a recipient does not satisfy the stated survival condition, the gift passes [TO THE RECIPIENT'S DESCENDANTS / TO AN ALTERNATE RECIPIENT / INTO THE RESIDUE].

3.2 Tangible Personal Property

The following tangible items pass as stated in this Will:

• [ITEM] to [BENEFICIARY]
• [ITEM] to [BENEFICIARY]
• [ITEM] to [BENEFICIARY]

Do not rely on a later, unattested memorandum unless Kentucky counsel confirms that the proposed method is valid for the property and execution plan. Unlisted tangible property passes under the residue.

ARTICLE IV — RESIDUARY TESTAMENTARY TRUST

I give all the rest, residue, and remainder of my probate estate to [PRIMARY TRUSTEE], as Trustee of the [TESTATOR SURNAME] Testamentary Family Trust created by this Will.

KRS 386B.4-010 permits creation of a trust by will. This Article is intended to state a present testamentary intent, definite beneficiaries, purposes, and duties satisfying KRS 386B.4-020.

If [PRIMARY TRUSTEE] does not serve or ceases to serve, [SUCCESSOR TRUSTEE] shall serve. If no named Trustee serves, a court may fill the vacancy as Kentucky law provides.

4.1 Administrative Shares

The Trustee shall divide the trust property into:

• Spouse's Share: [PERCENTAGE OR “NONE”]
• Descendants' Shares: [PERCENTAGE], divided [EQUALLY / BY REPRESENTATION]
• Other Share: [BENEFICIARY AND PERCENTAGE / NONE]

The total must equal 100%.

4.2 Spouse's Share

If my Spouse survives me by [30] days, the Trustee shall administer the Spouse's Share as follows:

• distribute net income [AT LEAST QUARTERLY / OTHER];
• distribute principal as the Trustee determines advisable for health, education, maintenance, and support, after considering [OTHER RESOURCES / WITHOUT CONSIDERING OTHER RESOURCES]; and
• at my Spouse's death, distribute the remaining share [TO MY THEN-LIVING DESCENDANTS BY REPRESENTATION / OTHER].

If my Spouse does not survive me by the stated period, the Spouse's Share shall be added to the Descendants' Shares.

4.3 Descendant's Separate Share

Each descendant's share shall be held separately. Before final distribution, the Trustee may distribute income and principal for that Beneficiary's health, education, maintenance, and support.

The Trustee shall distribute:

• [ONE-THIRD / OTHER] at age [25];
• [ONE-HALF OF THE REMAINDER / OTHER] at age [30]; and
• the balance at age [35].

If a Beneficiary dies before receiving the entire share, the remaining share passes [TO THAT BENEFICIARY'S DESCENDANTS / TO THE REMAINING DESCENDANTS / OTHER].

4.4 Distribution for a Minor or Incapacitated Beneficiary

A distribution otherwise payable to a minor or incapacitated Beneficiary may be paid to an authorized guardian, conservator, custodian, agent, or provider, or applied directly for the Beneficiary, to the extent Kentucky law permits. Counsel must select the appropriate method for the amount and circumstances.

4.5 Spendthrift Provision

Each trust share is a spendthrift trust. Before actual receipt, the Beneficiary may not voluntarily or involuntarily alienate the interest, subject to the exceptions and creditor rights preserved by KRS 386B.5-020.

ARTICLE V — TRUSTEE ADMINISTRATION

5.1 Mandatory Duties

The Trustee shall:

• administer the trust in good faith, according to its terms and purposes and the interests of the Beneficiaries, under KRS 386B.8-010;
• administer solely in the interests of the Beneficiaries and comply with KRS 386B.8-020;
• exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution under KRS 386B.8-040;
• keep adequate records and keep trust property separate from the Trustee's own property; and
• provide notices, information, and reports required by KRS 386B.8-130.

Upon a qualified Beneficiary's request, the Trustee shall provide the instrument and annual or termination reports required by KRS 386B.8-130(1)(c). This Will does not override the mandatory minimum notice and reporting duty in KRS 386B.8-130(2).

5.2 Powers

Subject to fiduciary duties and this Will, the Trustee may exercise the general powers in KRS 386B.8-150 and the specific powers in KRS 386B.8-160, including collecting, acquiring, selling, exchanging, leasing, insuring, investing, borrowing, settling claims, employing professionals, making tax elections, dividing shares, and distributing property in cash or in kind.

5.3 Compensation

The Trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances under KRS 386B.7-080, subject to the court's statutory authority.

5.4 Resignation, Vacancy, and Removal

A Trustee may resign as Kentucky law permits. The settlor, a cotrustee, or a Beneficiary may request judicial removal, and the court may remove a Trustee only on grounds and findings authorized by KRS 386B.7-060. This Will does not give a beneficiary majority an automatic removal power.

5.5 Liability and Exculpation

No provision relieves a Trustee from liability for a breach committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the trust's purposes or the Beneficiaries' interests. Any exculpatory term is limited by KRS 386B.10-080.

This Will does not impose a blanket cap limiting liability to trust assets and does not excuse self-dealing, disloyalty, or failure to account.

The Trustee may obtain insurance when prudent and lawfully chargeable to the trust.

5.6 Remedies

For a breach of trust, a court may grant the remedies listed in KRS 386B.10-010, including compelling performance or an accounting, enjoining a breach, ordering restoration, appointing a special fiduciary, suspending or removing the Trustee, reducing compensation, and granting other appropriate relief. No private notice-and-cure period delays access to those remedies.

ARTICLE VI — DIGITAL ASSETS

Subject to any controlling online-tool direction, I affirmatively consent to disclosure to my Personal Representative and Trustee of my digital assets, including the content of electronic communications, to the fullest extent permitted by KRS 395A.040.

My Personal Representative may request content under KRS 395A.070 and other digital assets under KRS 395A.080. This authority remains subject to applicable law, court orders, terms of service, fiduciary duties, and any controlling online-tool direction.

Digital-asset inventory location: [SECURE LOCATION; DO NOT PLACE PASSWORDS IN THIS WILL]

ARTICLE VII — MINOR CHILDREN

If a guardian is needed for a minor child of mine, I nominate [PRIMARY GUARDIAN]. If that person does not serve, I nominate [SUCCESSOR GUARDIAN]. The court retains authority over any appointment.

ARTICLE VIII — SURVIVAL, SEVERABILITY, AND GOVERNING LAW

A person must survive me by [30] days to take under this Will unless a provision states otherwise.

If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue to the extent permitted by law. This clause does not authorize reformation that defeats a mandatory rule identified in KRS 386B.1-030.

Kentucky law governs this Will and the testamentary trust, subject to any law that must apply to property or administration elsewhere.

ARTICLE IX — PAPER-WILL SIGNATURE AND ATTESTATION

I sign this instrument willingly as my Last Will and Testament.

Date: [__/__/____]

________________________________________
[TESTATOR FULL LEGAL NAME], Testator

We sign as witnesses in the presence of the Testator and each other. The Testator signed or acknowledged this Will in our presence and requested that we witness it.

SELF-PROVING AFFIDAVIT — KRS 394.225

STATE OF [STATE]
COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

I, [TESTATOR], being first duly sworn, declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my Last Will, that I sign it willingly as my free and voluntary act for the purposes expressed, and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

________________________________________
[TESTATOR], Testator

We, [WITNESS 1] and [WITNESS 2], being first duly sworn, declare to the undersigned authority that the Testator signed and executed this instrument as the Testator's Last Will, signed it willingly, and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the Testator and in the presence of the other subscribing witness, signs as a witness. To the best of our knowledge, the Testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.

________________________________________
[WITNESS 1], Witness

________________________________________
[WITNESS 2], Witness

Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me by the Testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by the witnesses, on [__/__/____].

________________________________________
[NOTARIAL OFFICER]
Official capacity: [CAPACITY]
My commission expires: [DATE]
[SEAL]

ATTORNEY REVIEW CHECKLIST

☐ Choose paper or electronic execution; do not combine ceremonies.
☐ For an electronic will, verify KRS 394.700 to 394.715 and current remote-notarization procedures.
☐ Confirm family status, descendants, and survival periods.
☐ Coordinate beneficiary designations and jointly owned or transfer-on-death property.
☐ Review surviving-spouse rights and any premarital or marital agreement.
☐ Confirm tax apportionment and estate, gift, generation-skipping, and income-tax objectives.
☐ Confirm trust shares, distribution standards, ages, and contingent beneficiaries.
☐ Confirm fiduciary eligibility, bond, compensation, succession, and conflicts.
☐ Confirm digital-asset consent and any online-tool directions.
☐ Conduct the selected execution and self-proving ceremony without later insertions.

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS Chapter 394
• Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS Chapter 386B
• Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS Chapter 395A
• Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS 394.706
• Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, KRS 394.710