KY Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Kentucky law, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?
- 18 years old (Correct answer)
- 21 years old
- 16 years old
- 14 years old
Correct answer: 18 years old
KRS 394.020 requires a testator to be at least 18 years old and of sound mind.
Question 2: How many witnesses must subscribe an attested (non-holographic) will in Kentucky?
- Two credible witnesses (Correct answer)
- One credible witness
- Three credible witnesses
- None, if signed by the testator
Correct answer: Two credible witnesses
KRS 394.040 requires the will be subscribed by at least two credible witnesses in the testator's presence.
Question 3: Kentucky recognizes holographic wills. What is the key requirement for validity?
- The will must be wholly written and signed in the testator's own handwriting (Correct answer)
- The will must be notarized
- The will must be witnessed by one person
- The will must be typed but signed by hand
Correct answer: The will must be wholly written and signed in the testator's own handwriting
Under KRS 394.040, a will wholly written and signed by the testator's hand needs no witnesses.
Question 4: A testator in Kentucky divorces after executing a will leaving everything to his spouse. What effect does the divorce have?
- Provisions in favor of the former spouse are revoked by operation of law (Correct answer)
- The entire will is revoked
- The will remains fully effective as written
- The former spouse takes half of the original gift
Correct answer: Provisions in favor of the former spouse are revoked by operation of law
KRS 394.092 revokes will provisions favoring a former spouse upon divorce or annulment, treating the ex-spouse as having predeceased the testator.
Question 5: In Kentucky, a surviving spouse who is disinherited by will may claim an elective share. What may the spouse renounce the will to receive?
- A statutory share of the estate, generally one-half of the surplus personalty and an interest in real estate (Correct answer)
- The entire estate
- Only the marital home
- Nothing if the will is validly executed
Correct answer: A statutory share of the estate, generally one-half of the surplus personalty and an interest in real estate
Under KRS 392.080, a surviving spouse may renounce the will and take the statutory dower/curtesy share, including one-half of surplus personal property.
Question 6: Under Kentucky's anti-lapse statute, a gift to a beneficiary who predeceases the testator passes to the beneficiary's descendants if the beneficiary was:
- A child or other descendant of the testator, or other relative as covered by statute (Correct answer)
- Any named beneficiary regardless of relationship
- Only the testator's spouse
- A friend named in the will
Correct answer: A child or other descendant of the testator, or other relative as covered by statute
KRS 394.400 saves gifts to predeceasing kindred by passing them to the deceased beneficiary's issue.
Question 7: A Kentucky testator physically tears up her will intending to revoke it. What is the result?
- The will is validly revoked by physical act with intent (Correct answer)
- The will remains valid until a written revocation is executed
- The will is revoked only if two witnesses observe the tearing
- The will can only be revoked by executing a new will
Correct answer: The will is validly revoked by physical act with intent
KRS 394.080 permits revocation by burning, tearing, cutting, or obliterating the will with intent to revoke.
KY Bar Wills Trusts and Estates 2
Under Kentucky law, what is the minimum age required to execute a valid will?