(1) A married woman may acquire and hold property, real and personal, by gift, devise or descent, or by purchase, and may, in her own name, as if she were unmarried, sell and dispose of her personal property. She may make contracts, and sue and be sued, as a single woman. She may rent out her real estate, and collect, receive and recover in her own name the rents thereof, and make contracts for the improvement thereof.
(2) A gift, transfer or assignment of personal property between husband and wife shall not be valid as to third persons, unless it is in writing, and acknowledged and recorded as chattel mortgages are required to be acknowledged and recorded; but the recording of any such writing shall not make valid any such gift, transfer or assignment that is fraudulent or voidable as to creditors or purchasers.

Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 404.020

  • Devise: To gift property by will.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • real estate: includes lands, tenements, and hereditaments and all rights thereto and interest therein, other than a chattel interest. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010

History: Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 268, sec. 2. — Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. sec. 2128.