Kentucky probate leads and inheritance data, by county.
If you are researching Kentucky probate leads, the public court file is only one part of the inherited-property market. USLeadList starts with death and property records, typically about five weeks after death, and generates an average of 1957 records a month across Kentucky.
Pathway to Success guide · Onboarding video · Marketing SOP · Letters and postcard templates
Kentucky counties
Browse 120 counties.Every Kentucky county has its own page. Highlighted counties currently generate the largest monthly record volume.
How inherited property moves in Kentucky
Verified state rules behind the county data.Probate rules matter because they determine when a public court record appears and which inherited properties never appear in an ordinary probate case.
What changes for an heir
Kentucky has no estate tax and no reassessment of property on transfer, so no recurring cost attaches to holding an inherited house. It does tax the taker: KRS 140.080 exempts a Class A beneficiary's entire inheritable interest, and 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 198 moved nephews and nieces, including of the half blood, into Class A for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2026. Class B keeps a $1,000 exemption at 4 to 16 percent, Class C a $500 exemption at 6 to 16 percent. Kentucky authorizes no transfer on death deed for real property. Intestate real estate descends directly to the heirs, and KRS 382.120 requires only a recorded affidavit of descent before an heir's deed may be recorded, so a house sold by intestate heirs can change hands with no probate filing.
Where probate records appear
District Court No free statewide public case search for trial courts. CourtNet 2.0 holds public case information from all 120 counties but is restricted to authorized users and carries a subscription fee. C-Track Public Access covers the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals only. For District Court probate files the Administrative Office of the Courts directs the public to the Office of Circuit Court Clerk in the county where the case was filed.
Ways property can avoid ordinary probate
Kentucky does not authorize a transfer on death deed for real estate. KRS 391.360, the last section of Chapter 391, makes death-transfer provisions written into a wide range of instruments nontestamentary; it creates no recordable transfer on death deed, prescribes no form and requires no recording. The 2026 bill that would have created one, SB 34, passed the Senate 36-2 but died in House Local Government. Real property is kept out of probate by joint tenancy with right of survivorship, a life estate deed, or a revocable living trust, and intestate real estate that descends to heirs is conveyed on a recorded affidavit of descent under KRS 382.120. Payable on death and multiple party accounts under KRS 391.300 to 391.360 cover money.
Small-estate route
No affidavit that transfers property by itself. A petition to dispense with administration, form AOC-830, asks the District Court to transfer the estate where the surviving spouse's or children's exemption of $30,000 under KRS 391.030, alone or together with preferred claims, equals or exceeds the distributable assets (KRS 395.450 and 395.455, the latter amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 134 effective July 15, 2026). Administration may also be dispensed with by written agreement of all beneficiaries where the estate owes no debts and creditors have been advertised (KRS 395.470). The $30,000 exemption figure has stood since 2020 Ky. Acts ch. 24.
Timing investors should understand
A personal representative may not distribute the estate until six months after qualification (KRS 395.190), and an informal final settlement may not be filed before six months from appointment (KRS 395.605(3)). Claims that arose before death are barred unless presented within six months after the personal representative is appointed, or within two years after death where none is appointed (KRS 396.011). The inventory is due within 60 days of appointment (KRS 395.250). Dispensing with administration by agreement requires advertisement posted at the courthouse door for six weeks plus publication under KRS Chapter 424 (KRS 395.470(7)). The Kentucky Court of Justice publishes no typical duration.
Kentucky inheritance volume
Updated monthly · September 2026 edition.Newly inherited residential properties recorded in Kentucky, from the same database that builds the lists. Published nationally in the Inheritance Property Index.
Biggest Kentucky counties by volume
Free to cite with attribution: USLeadList Inheritance Property Index, September 2026 edition. See every state and download the data.
See pricing for your Kentucky county.
Choose a county, review the available options, and request a quote.