Kaut was born in Stuttgart, Germany. Her parents moved the family to Munich when she was two years old. In 1938, aged 18, Kaut was elected the first official Münchner Kindl for that year. In 1939 she married author Kurt Preis. She continuing to live in Munich. They had a daughter, Ursula, born in March 1945. Kaut received actor's training, then studied sculpting. From 1948 she was a freelance author. She also had some speaking parts in radio plays in the 1950s and 1960s. She supervised children's programmes at Bayerischer Rundfunk. She was also active as a painter and photographer. In a 2010 interview, Kaut said that writing was always hard work for her.