Ky. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 404
Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 404.010 (2026)

Effect of marriage on wife's property -- Separate estate -- Subjection of

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estate to debts. (1) Marriage shall give to the husband, during the life of the wife, no estate or interest in the wife's property, real or personal, owned at the time or acquired after the marriage. During the existence of the marriage relationship the wife shall hold and own all her estate to her separate and exclusive use, and free from the debts, liabilities or control of her husband. (2) A married woman's estate shall be liable for her debts and responsibilities contracted before marriage, and for such contracted after marriage, except as provided in this chapter and in KRS Chapter 392. Effective: July 13, 1984 History: Amended 1984 Ky. Acts ch. 111, sec. 161, effective July 13, 1984. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 268, sec. 1. -- Amended 1954 Ky. Acts ch. 21, sec. 1, effective June 17, 1954. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 2127.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 16 cases, 1943–2003 · leading case: United States v. Yazell, 382 U.S. 341 (1966).
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United States v. Yazell, 382 U.S. 341 (1966). · cites it 2× “§ 53-503 ; Ky. Rev. Stat. § 404.010. [26] See, e. g.”
Ewing v. May, 705 S.W.2d 910 (Ky. 1986). “KRS 404.010. Thus, the resources of a new spouse have no bearing on the statutorily mandated factor in determining child support of the financial resources and needs of the noncustodial parent.”
Cooke v. Louisville Trust Co., 380 S.W.2d 255 (Ky. Ct. App. 1964). · cites it 3× “Cooke had the legal capacity to contract as surety, it was not essential to the validity of her contract that the consideration should move to her, but that it could consist entirely of a benefit to her husband.”
First Union Home Equity Bank, N.A. v. Bedford Loan & Deposit Bank, 111 S.W.3d 892 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003). “010(1), which would seemingly operate as an outright bar to a surviving husband’s interest in the wife’s land, does not eliminate the husband’s curtesy interest in the property of the wife as provided for in KRS 392.020 which states in pertinent part: After the death of the…”
Cloud v. Hug, 281 S.W.2d 911 (Ky. Ct. App. 1955). · cites it 2× “84, with interest, but absolved the , appellee Estelle Hug from liability on the ground that she signed her husband’s note as surety without setting aside any of her property by mortgage or' other conveyance as was required by KRS 404.010 before its amendment in 1954.”
Evans' Adm'r v. Evans, 199 S.W.2d 734 (Ky. Ct. App. 1947). “2127, which was in effect when this note was executed, now KRS 404.010, Sallie as her husband’s surety was not bound on this note.”
Faulkner v. Terrell, 287 S.W.2d 409 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956). “During the existence of the marriage relation the wife shall hold and own all her estate to her separate and exclusive use, and free from the debts, liabilities or control of her husband.”
Alford v. Rodgers, 262 S.W.2d 676 (Ky. Ct. App. 1953). “So the burden is upon a married woman seeking relief from liability as an obligor on an instrument on the ground that she had signed it as a surety, KRS 404.010(2), to establish such as a fact and thereby overcome the presumption that she was a principal or primarily liable.”
Swafford v. Manning, 272 S.W.2d 339 (Ky. Ct. App. 1954). “She relied on KRS 404.010(2), which provides that no part of a married woman’s estate shall be subjected to- the payment of any liability upon a contract made after marriage to answer for the debt of another, including her husband, unless the estate has been set apart for that…”
Rogers v. Winchester Bldg. & Sav. Ass'n, 293 S.W.2d 463 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956). · cites it 2× “KRS 404.010. This section has been amended since this action arose.”
Crook v. Cochran, 197 S.W.2d 92 (Ky. Ct. App. 1946). “In the second numbered paragraph of the answer, appellant attempted to plead that her agent signed the check as surety for a firm of which he is the President and General Manager and she the Secretary and Treasurer; and that, being a married woman, and not having mortgaged or…”
Rusch v. Roehr, 172 S.W.2d 205 (Ky. Ct. App. 1943). “The defense interposed by the appellant was that she •signed the note as surety, and, since she was a married woman at the time of its execution, she could not be held liable on it (KRS 404.010). *512 Mrs. Rusch assumed the burden of proof and the testimony offered in her behalf…”
Show all 16 citing cases →
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 404.010(1) — 2 cases
First Union Home Equity Bank, N.A. v. Bedford Loan & Deposit Bank, 111 S.W.3d 892 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003). “010(1), which would seemingly operate as an outright bar to a surviving husband’s interest in the wife’s land, does not eliminate the husband’s curtesy interest in the property of the wife as provided for in KRS 392.020 which states in pertinent part: After the death of the…”
Faulkner v. Terrell, 287 S.W.2d 409 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956). “During the existence of the marriage relation the wife shall hold and own all her estate to her separate and exclusive use, and free from the debts, liabilities or control of her husband.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 404.010(2) — 7 cases
Cooke v. Louisville Trust Co., 380 S.W.2d 255 (Ky. Ct. App. 1964). “Cooke had the legal capacity to contract as surety, it was not essential to the validity of her contract that the consideration should move to her, but that it could consist entirely of a benefit to her husband.”
Alford v. Rodgers, 262 S.W.2d 676 (Ky. Ct. App. 1953). “So the burden is upon a married woman seeking relief from liability as an obligor on an instrument on the ground that she had signed it as a surety, KRS 404.010(2), to establish such as a fact and thereby overcome the presumption that she was a principal or primarily liable.”
Swafford v. Manning, 272 S.W.2d 339 (Ky. Ct. App. 1954). “She relied on KRS 404.010(2), which provides that no part of a married woman’s estate shall be subjected to- the payment of any liability upon a contract made after marriage to answer for the debt of another, including her husband, unless the estate has been set apart for that…”
Daugherty v. Brewer, 267 S.W.2d 948 (Ky. Ct. App. 1954).
Rogers v. Winchester Bldg. & Sav. Ass'n, 293 S.W.2d 463 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956). “KRS 404.010. This section has been amended since this action arose.”
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