State file — Kentucky
Every number below names the law it comes from (its statute citation), checked October 18, 2026. Where a number comes from a secondary source instead of the official text, this page says so — double-check it before you rely on it.
| How long they have to sue you — credit-card debt | 10 years (written contract) / 5 years (open account) · KRS 413.160; KRS 413.120(1) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it The written-contract period was cut from 15 to 10 years by 2014 Ky. Acts ch. 142, for contracts executed after July 15, 2014 — not in 2021. Contested: Written contracts executed after July 15, 2014 get 10 years (KRS 413.160); contracts not in writing get 5 (KRS 413.120(1)). Card debt is usually sued as an open account at 5 years, but some sources place card agreements in the 10-year written bucket. Written contracts executed before July 15, 2014 still carry the old 15 years under KRS 413.090(2). |
| If the clock has run out | Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. none located From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it No Kentucky revival statute could be located this pass; one 50-state revival table lists Kentucky as unverified for exactly this reason. Secondary consumer sources say a part payment or a new written promise commonly restarts the period. Treat this cell as unverified. |
| Deadline to answer a lawsuit | 20 days after service of the summons and complaint · Ky. CR 12.01 From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your paycheck (wage garnishment) | Follows the federal cap. Kentucky tracks the federal cap: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. KRS 427.010(2) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
| Taking your bank account (a levy) | The only real shield for bank money is Kentucky's $1,000 'additional general exemption,' which the debtor can point at cash in a bank account. Past that — and apart from exempt benefit deposits — the balance is exposed. KRS 427.160; KRS 427.010(1) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it Federal benefits deposited directly get an automatic two-month shield everywhere (31 CFR Part 212). |
| Original creditor calling? | Partially — Kentucky has no state FDCPA. KRS 367.170 bans unfair, false, misleading or deceptive acts in any trade or commerce, which reaches original creditors collecting their own debts. Oddly, Kentucky courts have held the Act does NOT reach third-party collectors, because there is no contract (privity) between the collector and the consumer. (KRS 367.170) |
| How long a judgment lasts | 15 years — Enforceable for 15 years; under KRS 413.090(1) the period runs from the date execution was last issued on the judgment, so issuing execution keeps it alive. · KRS 413.090(1) From a secondary source — double-check before you rely on it |
Run my dates through the free checker
Card agreements often pick another state's law (Delaware for Chase, Bank of America, Discover, Barclays; South Dakota for Citi and Wells Fargo). A court may use the shorter of the two deadlines, under a rule called a borrowing statute — the free checker works out both clocks for you.
One payment. Every stage of the road, and the deadline tables for all 50 states — every number with its law cited. No account, no subscription — and the free checker above stays free whether you buy or not.
DebtDecoded is education, not a law firm. If the checker points you to a free route — legal aid, a lawyer who fights debt collectors, a nonprofit counselor — take it. We would rather lose the sale than sell you the wrong tool.
10 years (written contract) / 5 years (open account) under KRS 413.160; KRS 413.120(1). The clock usually starts at the first missed payment that was never made up. Debt collectors may still call after it runs out, but Regulation F (12 CFR 1006.26(b)) bars them from suing — or threatening to sue — over a debt that is too old (time-barred).
Paying part of it, or signing a written statement that the debt is yours, can restart it. (none located).
20 days after service of the summons and complaint (Ky. CR 12.01). Most of these cases are lost by default — by never answering at all.
Kentucky tracks the federal cap: the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage. (KRS 427.010(2)).