Carolyn Kenton founded Kenton Elder Law to continue her work with legal issues of the older client. A former partner in Bluegrass Elderlaw PLLC and a respected authority on elder law, Ms. Kenton frequently speaks to groups on the subjects of elder law, lifetime planning documents such as powers of attorney, guardianships, asset management, estate and Medicaid asset preservation planning, and the probate process. She is co-author of Kentucky Elder Law, 2018 ed. (Vol. 23, Kentucky Practice Series) published by West as well as many monographs on probate, estate settlement and Medicaid planning. Ms. Kenton is a former State Representative and a graduate of the University of Kentucky where she earned her BA, MA and JD degrees. She is a member of the Kentucky Bar Associations Elder Law Section. She intends to focus her efforts toward helping middle income families make a seamless transition from generation to generation.

Working to protect Kentucky’s most vulnerable citizens and natural landscapes has long been Joe’s personal and professional passion. As an undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, Joe successfully lobbied for Appalachian studies curricula and the formation of the UK Appalachian Center. As a law student, Joe spent his summers working throughout east Kentucky and central Appalachia with the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force documenting absentee land and mineral ownership by out of state energy giants. This work inspired the creation of the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition, which later became Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Joe started his legal career with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (AppalRed) in Jackson, Kentucky, and has now been in private practice for forty years. He represented landowners in some of Kentucky’s most important mineral and tax litigation, which led to major reforms in property tax of unmined minerals and passage of the Broad Form Deed Amendment to the Kentucky Constitution in 1988. ​ From 1988 to 1992, Joe was a partner of Shepherd & Childers, where he practiced with now Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd. From 2007 to 2011, Joe was a partner in Getty & Childers, a Lexington civil litigation firm. In 2012, Joe started Joe F. Childers & Associates, the predecessor to Childers & Baxter, PLLC. Joe has served on the boards of the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, Kentucky State University, Kentucky Employers Mutual Insurance Company, the State Board of Claims, and as Commissioner on the State Mine Safety Review Commission and the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Since 2015, Joe has served as Board Chair of the Kentucky Resources Council. Joe and his wife Denise have two adult children.