The Kentucky military affidavit

How Kentucky handles it

Kentucky is a draft-it-yourself state. The Administrative Office of the Courts publishes hundreds of AOC forms and its Legal Forms index, searched on August 15, 2026, contains no military affidavit under any spelling. AOC-125, the form actually captioned Default Judgment (rev. 10-07), is the judge’s order and has no military line on it. AOC-175, the Small Claims Complaint, has none either. So the affidavit is a document you write, and what tells you what belongs in it is the local rule of the circuit you filed in.

Jefferson Circuit Court, which covers Louisville and is the busiest civil docket in the state, spells it out. Rule 403(A) of its Rules of Practice and Procedure says motions for default judgment are not noticed for a hearing and stand submitted on filing, and that the court will assign a hearing date only if it decides one is necessary under CR 55.01. Rule 403(B) then says every motion for default judgment involving a liquidated claim must be accompanied by a Default Judgment Certificate "in addition to Military Affidavit, if a Military Affidavit is required by the Soldier and Sailor Relief Act."

The certificate is printed inside the rule, so you know exactly what to file with the affidavit. Counsel certifies that no papers have been served on plaintiff’s counsel by the defendant in default; the date the defendant was served and how; the amount of the original obligation; the amount the defendant paid, to be deducted; any statutory deduction where the obligation carries precomputed interest and other precomputed charges; the balance due; and, if that balance differs from the amount sought in the proposed default judgment, the reason. Rule 403(C) adds that a liquidated damages claim must be supported by written documentation sufficient to establish that the amount is accurate.

Kentucky then does something few states do: it treats the appointed lawyer for an absent defendant as a standing office. Jefferson Circuit Rule 1001, "Warning Order and Military Attorney," as amended by order of the Supreme Court of Kentucky entered December 8, 2021 and effective January 1, 2022, groups the two appointments together. The circuit clerk compiles a list of attorneys who have applied to serve and makes appointments from it on a rotating and equal basis. The court assesses a fee of $125.00 plus postage per defendant where the matter involves only one letter and one report, and the attorney may petition for more in exceptional circumstances. The report is due within fifty days of appointment, and missing that deadline can be sanctioned whether or not the attorney has been paid.

Two practical points before you file. First, jurisdiction: Kentucky District Court hears small claims and forcible detainer, Circuit Court hears the larger civil cases, and Rule 403 is a Circuit rule. Local rules for every circuit and district in the state are published on kycourts.gov under Rules of Practice, so pull the ones for your county rather than assuming Louisville practice applies. Second, filing: the AOC’s File and Serve page states that the next generation eCourts project will replace Kentucky’s current eFiling and KyCourts case management systems, and that the launch schedule for Tyler’s File and Serve application has been extended after unplanned work and delayed deliveries (read August 2026). Until that lands, file the affidavit the way your clerk is taking filings now.

What trips filers up here

• No AOC form exists. Walking into a Kentucky clerk’s office expecting to be handed a military affidavit wastes the trip. Bring your own, with the DMDC status report attached.
• Rule 403 calls it "the Soldier and Sailor Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 521," which is two names and a codification behind. The statute is the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the default judgment section is now 50 U.S.C. § 3931.
• Rule 403(B) covers liquidated claims. If your damages are unliquidated, the certificate does not apply and CR 55.01 puts you in front of a judge, but the military affidavit is still required by federal law.
• The Military Attorney is a real appointment with a real bill attached, $125.00 plus postage per defendant in Jefferson Circuit for a single letter and report. Filing an affidavit that says a defendant is serving is not the end of the case, it is the start of that appointment.

Signing it: check with the clerk

The rule requires a Military Affidavit but does not prescribe a signature block, and Kentucky publishes no Administrative Office of the Courts form to supply one. Draft it as an affidavit sworn before a notary unless the division you are in tells you otherwise.

The form does not state on its face whether it must be notarized. Ask the clerk for the court you are filing in before you sign, because a rejected affidavit delays the default hearing and some clerks apply a local practice the statewide form does not print.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in Kentucky and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: Kentucky SCRA benefits.