Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Kentucky

Re: Believe I am a legal heir to an estate what now?

There are two ways to pass property at death (unless there is a survivorship deed or trust created during life). One is by a will and if there is no will your property is divided pursuant to a statute we refer to as "descent and distribution". When a person passes away in Kentucky, a relative (in most cases) goes to District Court in the County of the deceased person's residence and either has the will entered into probate or if no will, have an administrator appointed. Your first and best option is to contact an attorney where your grandparent lived and have him check it out. Your next option would be to go to the District Court Clerk (also the Circuit Clerk in rural counties) and see if an estate for you grandparent has been opened. This will contain a will if there is one. If there is a will, then the property is divided as is specified in the will. If there is no will, then the property (in your case) would be first divided amoung the children of the deceased person and if one of the children is deceased then his/her children recieve that share.

If an estate has not been opened for your grandparent, you can petition the Court to open an estate. Do not worry about a will at this point if you can't locate one. This gets complicated and I would not advise that you try to do this on your own. While you may be able to fill out the initial forms, you would be lost in performing subsequent acts. See an attorney. There are many siltuations where persons have been left out simply because they did not find out the true facts and then (most importantly) get the proper help.