{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-411.130","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 411.130","heading":"Action for wrongful death -- Personal representative to prosecute --","body":"Distribution of amount recovered.\n(1) Whenever the death of a person results from an injury inflicted by the negligence or\nwrongful act of another, damages may be recovered for the d eath from the person\nwho caused it, or whose agent or servant caused it. If the act was willful or the\nnegligence gross, punitive damages may be recovered. The action shall be\nprosecuted by the personal representative of the deceased.\n(2) The amount recove red, less funeral expenses and the cost of administration and\ncosts of recovery including attorney fees, not included in the recovery from the\ndefendant, shall be for the benefit of and go to the kindred of the deceased in the\nfollowing order:\n(a) If the d eceased leaves a widow or husband, and no children or their\ndescendants, then the whole to the widow or husband.\n(b) If the deceased leaves a widow and children or a husband and children, then\none-half (1/2) to the widow or husband and the other one -half ( 1/2) to the\nchildren of the deceased.\n(c) If the deceased leaves a child or children, but no widow or husband, then the\nwhole to the child or children.\n(d) If the deceased leaves no widow, husband or child, then the recovery shall\npass to the mother and fa ther of the deceased, one (1) moiety each, if both are\nliving; if the mother is dead and the father is living, the whole thereof shall\npass to the father; and if the father is dead and the mother living, the whole\nthereof shall go to the mother. In the eve nt the deceased was an adopted\nperson, \"mother\" and \"father\" shall mean the adoptive parents of the deceased.\n(e) If the deceased leaves no widow, husband or child, and if both father and\nmother are dead, then the whole of the recovery shall become a part of the\npersonal estate of the deceased, and after the payment of his debts the\nremainder, if any, shall pass to his kindred more remote than those above\nnamed, according to the law of descent and distribution.","path":["KRS Chapter 411"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=17769","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:59:35Z","sha256":"dca9823f149962610e51e616135e6f19bcef4bf4ba239bfa52df5a8f5a154900","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-411.120","next":"us-ky/krs-411.133"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}