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Colorado Estate Creditor Claims and Notice to Creditors
Support GuideColorado13 min read

Colorado Estate Creditor Claims and Notice to Creditors

How the Colorado notice to creditors works: three-week publication, the 4-month claim bar, 60-day mailed notice, and the 1-year limit in C.R.S. 15-12-803.

By Settled Editorial

Here is the short answer most people want first. As personal representative, you publish a notice to creditors in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks, and creditors then have at least four months from the first publication to present claims, or one year from the death, whichever comes first (C.R.S. 15-12-801). You can also mail the notice to a known creditor, which gives that creditor the later of the published deadline or 60 days from the mailing. No matter what, Colorado bars claims that arose before death once one year passes after the death (C.R.S. 15-12-803). Pay allowed claims in the statutory order, and do not distribute to heirs until the claim windows close.

The anxiety behind most searches is simple. You worry that you will pay out the estate, a creditor will surface later, and you will owe the money yourself. Colorado gives you a clear calendar to prevent that. Publish the notice, mail it to known creditors, let the windows run, then pay claims in the right order. This guide walks each step and cites the statute behind it.

One venue note before the details. Colorado probate runs through the District Court of the county where the decedent lived, organized into 23 judicial districts, except in the City and County of Denver, where the standalone Denver Probate Court handles probate. The statutory notice form itself names both courts. Use this guide with the Colorado probate timeline, and start from the Colorado probate hub to find your county's court.

Publication Is Required, Not Optional

Colorado tells the personal representative to publish. Unless one year or more has already passed since the death, C.R.S. 15-12-801(1) says the personal representative shall cause a notice to creditors to be published in a daily or weekly newspaper in the county where the estate is being administered. If the county has no such newspaper, you publish in a newspaper of general circulation in an adjoining county.

The mechanics are specific:

  1. Publish the notice at least three times, at least once during each of three successive calendar weeks.
  2. State a claim deadline in the notice. The statute sets the floor: a date not earlier than four months from the date of first publication, or the date one year from the date of death, whichever occurs first.
  3. Keep the publisher's proof of publication for the court file.

Creditors who fail to present claims by the published deadline are barred as to that route. The statute also protects you on the notice decision itself: under C.R.S. 15-12-801(3), a personal representative is not liable to any creditor or successor for giving or failing to give notice under this section. Publication still matters, because it is what shortens the claim window from a full year down to roughly four months. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-801.)

Mail the Notice to Known Creditors

Publication handles unknown creditors. For creditors you already know about, such as a mortgage servicer, credit card issuer, hospital, or utility, C.R.S. 15-12-801(2) lets you give written notice by mail or other delivery. The written notice tells the creditor to present the claim within the later of:

  1. The deadline set in the published notice, or
  2. 60 days from the mailing or other delivery of the written notice, but never later than one year from the date of death.

Mailing known creditors is the practical move even though the statute frames it as permissive. It starts a concrete clock for each creditor you can name, and it removes the argument that the creditor never saw a newspaper. Keep a copy of each notice and a record of the mailing date, because the 60-day calculation runs from that date. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-801(2).)

The One-Year Bar Ends Pre-Death Claims

Colorado's ultimate backstop sits in C.R.S. 15-12-803. Claims that arose before the death, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, are barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs and devisees unless presented:

  1. Within the time set in the published notice, for creditors barred by publication
  2. Within the time set in the written notice, for creditors who received mailed notice
  3. In every case, within one year after the decedent's death

The one-year limit applies to every pre-death claim, including claims of the State of Colorado and its subdivisions. The statute calls itself a nonclaim statute that cannot be waived or tolled, and it says it is not a statute of limitations (C.R.S. 15-12-803(4)). That language is the answer to the common worry about a surprise claim in year three. If nobody presented the claim within a year of the death, the claim against the estate is gone.

Claims that arise at or after the death follow their own four-month rule. A claim based on a contract with the personal representative must be presented within four months after performance is due, and any other post-death claim within four months after it arises (C.R.S. 15-12-803(2)).

Three categories survive the bar under C.R.S. 15-12-803(3): a proceeding to enforce a mortgage, pledge, or other lien on estate property; a proceeding against liability insurance, but only up to the policy limits; and compensation claims of the personal representative and the estate's attorney or accountant. A mortgage on the house does not vanish at the one-year mark. The lien rides with the property even when the personal claim against the estate is barred.

One more limitations rule helps you screen old debts. Under C.R.S. 15-12-802, a claim already barred by a statute of limitations at the date of death cannot be allowed or paid, unless the personal representative waives the limitations defense, which requires the consent of all affected successors and is off the table if the estate is or would become insolvent. Other limitations periods pause for only four months after the death before resuming. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-802, 15-12-803.)

How Creditors Must Present Claims

A creditor cannot create a valid claim by calling you or sending a bill to the decedent's address. C.R.S. 15-12-804 sets the formal channels, and the estate must first be opened in court before any claim can be presented. A creditor presents a claim by:

  1. Filing a written statement of the claim with the clerk of the court, on the form approved by the Colorado Supreme Court
  2. Delivering or mailing a written statement of the claim to the court-appointed personal representative
  3. Starting a court proceeding against the personal representative within the claim period

The written statement must demand payment and give you enough information to investigate: the basis of the claim, the claimant's name and address, and the amount claimed (C.R.S. 15-12-804(4)). A claim counts as presented on the earlier of the date you receive the written statement or the date it is filed with the court.

Here is the detail that protects personal representatives most often. Your private knowledge that someone could bring a claim is not a substitute for proper presentation (C.R.S. 15-12-804(3)). Knowing the decedent owed a neighbor money does not keep that debt alive past the bar date if the neighbor never presents a written claim. It does mean you should consider mailing that creditor the notice, so the clock runs cleanly. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-804.)

Allow or Disallow Each Claim in Writing

Once claims arrive, you act on them. Under C.R.S. 15-12-806, you may mail a claimant a notice that the claim is disallowed. Watch the default rule: if you fail to mail a notice of action on the claim within 63 days after the time for original presentation has expired, the claim is deemed allowed. Silence allows claims in Colorado. Calendar the 63-day review point the same day the claim period closes.

When you disallow a claim in whole or in part, the disallowed portion is barred unless the claimant files a petition for allowance or sues you within 63 days after the mailing, and the bar only works if your notice warns the claimant of it. Use disallowance language that states the deadline and the consequence. Allowed claims also accrue interest at the legal rate starting 63 days after the presentation window expires, unless the underlying contract sets its own rate. Paying allowed claims promptly once the windows close keeps interest from eating the estate. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-806.)

Pay Claims in the Statutory Order

If the estate can pay everyone, order matters less. If money is short, order is everything. C.R.S. 15-12-805 makes the personal representative pay allowed claims in this sequence:

  1. Property the decedent held as fiduciary or trustee, with its administration expenses
  2. Other costs and expenses of administration
  3. Reasonable funeral and final disposition expenses
  4. Debts and taxes with preference under federal law
  5. Reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness
  6. Debts and taxes with preference under other Colorado law
  7. The state Medicaid agency's claim for medical assistance paid for the decedent
  8. Excess public assistance claims of human services agencies
  9. Child support obligations due and unpaid at death, plus court-determined future support
  10. All other claims

Within a class, no claim gets preference over another, and a claim that is due does not outrank one that is not yet due (C.R.S. 15-12-805(2)). The exempt property and family allowance for a surviving spouse or dependent children also sit ahead of most claims (C.R.S. 15-11-403, 15-11-404), so account for them before you pay general creditors. Administration expenses in class two include the court's docket fees and the other charges mapped in the Colorado probate costs guide.

Timing pairs with order. C.R.S. 15-12-807(1) directs you to pay allowed claims one year after the death, in priority order, after providing for the allowances, for presented claims not yet resolved, and for unbarred claims that may still arrive. You may pay a just claim earlier, but C.R.S. 15-12-807(2) makes you personally liable to an injured claimant if you paid early without requiring adequate security for a refund, or if your negligence or willful fault paid claims out of priority. That is the statute behind the standard advice: when an estate looks insolvent, stop, classify every claim, and talk to a Colorado probate attorney before paying anyone. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-805, 15-12-807.)

Where Creditor Claims Fit in the Whole Estate

Creditor work runs in the middle of the administration calendar. You open the estate and receive letters, publish and mail the notices early, gather assets while the four-month window runs, rule on claims, pay in order, and only then distribute. The claim period is one of the main drivers of how long Colorado probate takes, so map it against the Colorado probate timeline when you set expectations with the family.

Distribution waits for the creditor calendar. Heirs determined under the will, or under the intestacy rules in the Colorado intestate succession guide when there is no will, take what remains after allowed claims, allowances, and expenses. A name in the will is not permission to pay out on day one.

If the estate is small, you may not need this whole sequence. Colorado lets successors collect personal property by affidavit when the estate falls under the statutory ceiling, without opening a court administration. Check whether full probate is even required before you build a creditor calendar.

Common Questions

Do I have to publish a notice to creditors in Colorado?

Yes, unless one year or more has already passed since the death. C.R.S. 15-12-801(1) says the personal representative shall publish the notice at least three times, once during each of three successive calendar weeks, in a newspaper in the county of administration. Publication is also what shortens the claim period to about four months instead of a full year.

How long do creditors have to file a claim against a Colorado estate?

Creditors covered by the published notice must present claims by the date in the notice, which is at least four months from first publication or one year from death, whichever occurs first. A creditor who received mailed notice gets the later of that published deadline or 60 days from the mailing. Every pre-death claim dies one year after the death under C.R.S. 15-12-803, no matter what notice went out.

What happens if I never publish the notice?

The one-year bar in C.R.S. 15-12-803(1) still cuts off pre-death claims one year after the death. Skipping publication mainly means the estate stays exposed for the full year instead of about four months, which delays safe distribution. Since the statute directs publication, follow it rather than relying on the backstop.

Does the one-year bar wipe out the mortgage on the house?

No. C.R.S. 15-12-803(3) preserves proceedings to enforce a mortgage, pledge, or other lien on estate property. The lender may lose the ability to claim against other estate assets, but the lien on the secured property survives, and whoever takes the house takes it subject to the mortgage.

Does Colorado Medicaid file a claim against the estate?

It can. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing presents its estate recovery claim for medical assistance paid for the decedent, and C.R.S. 15-12-805(1)(f.5) gives that claim its own priority class, below last-illness medical expenses and state-preference taxes but above general unsecured creditors.

Can I be personally liable for the decedent's debts?

Not just for serving, but yes through mistakes. C.R.S. 15-12-807(2) makes a personal representative personally liable to an injured claimant for paying claims early without adequate refund security, or for paying out of priority order through negligence or willful fault. Distributing to heirs before the claim windows close creates the same exposure. Follow the calendar and the classification list, and the statutes protect you.

This guide is general information about Colorado estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the District Court for your county or the Denver Probate Court, or with a licensed Colorado attorney, especially if the estate may be insolvent.

Sources

Sources:

Information current as of June 10, 2026

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Colorado can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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