Joint revocable living trust (for spouses)
One trust for both spouses that keeps your estate out of probate — drafted to fit the new Kentucky surviving-spouse law.
What it is
A joint revocable living trust is a single trust that both spouses create and fund together. While you are both alive and able, the two of you serve as co-trustees and keep full control. At the first death, the surviving spouse continues as sole trustee for life; at the second death, the trust passes to the people you both named.
This trust is drafted to fit 2026 Kentucky Senate Bill 50, which took effect July 15, 2026. SB 50 rewrites how much of a deceased spouse’s property a surviving spouse is entitled to, and it expressly reaches the assets of a revocable living trust. A joint trust for spouses is drafted to fit that new law: because the trust keeps providing for the surviving spouse, the value of the survivor’s interest in the trust is credited against the share Kentucky law gives them — not substituted for it — and any part of that share the trust doesn’t cover still belongs to the survivor.
Who needs it
Married couples who want one combined trust instead of two separate single-settlor trusts. A joint trust keeps both spouses’ estate planning in a single instrument, with one set of beneficiaries and a built-in plan for what happens at the first death.
This is the standard "all to the surviving spouse for life, then to the children" pattern. Tax-driven sub-trusts (credit-shelter, bypass, QTIP), disclaimer trusts, special-needs sub-trusts, blended-family staging, and unequal first-death splits are individually-tailored attorney work beyond this product — your attorney will discuss the right path if your situation calls for one.
Spouses who each want their own separate trust should use the single-settlor Revocable living trust product instead. A joint trust is one trust for the two of you.
Kentucky authority
KRS Chapter 386B (Kentucky Uniform Trust Code — adopted 2014), including the multi-settlor revocation default of KRS 386B.6-020(2) (Kentucky is not a community-property state, so each settlor may revoke or amend only the portion attributable to that settlor’s contribution). 2026 Kentucky Senate Bill 50, effective July 15, 2026, restructures the surviving spouse’s share (KRS 392.020) to reach revocable-trust assets and counts a trust benefiting the surviving spouse toward that share rather than excluding it, crediting its value under KRS 392.020(7). The joint trust is drafted to align with that law as of its effective date.
What happens after you start
Your draft is assembled from your answers, reviewed by D. Elton Johnson before delivery, and sent to you via secure one-time-use download link. The delivery includes the document itself, a Kentucky-specific wet-ink execution instructions packet, and a receipt.
The information on this page is general — it is not legal advice for your specific situation. Bluegrass Cornerstone is a service of Johnson Legal PLLC, a Kentucky law firm. When you engage Cornerstone, you engage Johnson Legal PLLC under a standard attorney-client relationship.
Steps to finalize
You complete the joint-trust questionnaire here — both spouses, one trust. Because the trustee provisions, the two-settlor revocation rule, the first-death administration, and the integration with your retirement and insurance beneficiaries all need attorney judgment, your answers are drafted into a trust that the supervising attorney reviews before it is delivered — the $499 covers that drafting and review. This trust is drafted to align with 2026 Kentucky SB 50 (effective July 15, 2026), which restructures the surviving spouse’s share and counts a trust benefiting the surviving spouse toward that share rather than excluding it, crediting its value under KRS 392.020(7).
A joint trust, like any revocable living trust, only works once it is FUNDED — and a joint trust has two of you retitling assets, plus two pour-over wills (one per spouse). The separate $400 Johnson Legal execution and funding session is where the trust is signed before a notary, your assets are retitled into it (real property by deed), and both pour-over wills are executed — schedule it so the trust actually controls your assets at death.
If you are unsure whether a joint trust is the right fit for the two of you — or whether you should each have your own separate trust instead — you can reach out before you buy.