SB23
Log in to followAN ACT relating to heirs property.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 381 to enact the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act; define terms, including "heirs property"; create a mechanism for partition or sale among cotenants by the court; create requirements for notice and determination of value through agreement or appraisal; create protocol for buyouts, partition alternatives, partition in kind, sale by open market, sealed bids, or auction; create the heirs property research fund; amend KRS 324B.050 to authorize the Kentucky Real Estate Authority to promulgate administrative regulations to issue grants from the fund; amend KRS 64.012 to increase the recording and indexing fee collected by county clerks by $1 and to direct those additional fees to the heirs property research fund; amend KRS 381.135 and 389A.030 to conform.
Introduced: January 6, 2026
Last action: January 6, 2026
Plain-language summary
This bill creates new rules in Kentucky law for handling "heirs property," which is land or real estate passed down through a family without a formal will or clear title. It sets up a court process for co-owners of such property to fairly divide or sell it, with options like buyouts, splitting the land, or open-market sales, and establishes a research fund supported by a small increase in county clerk recording fees to support related work. Who it may affect: families who jointly inherited property without a clear title, co-owners of inherited land, and county clerks.
Legislative History
Primary Sponsor
