Colorado Probate Guide

Colorado probate readers usually need one practical answer first: which court takes the case, and which path fits the property left behind. In Colorado, probate is filed in the District Court of the county where the person lived at death, with one exception. The City and County of Denver uses a standalone Denver Probate Court. Colorado adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so most estates open informally with a court officer called the registrar and never see a hearing. (See the Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15, and the Colorado Judicial Branch Open an Estate page.)

Use this Colorado probate guide as a planning map, not as legal advice or a filing packet. Each District Court clerk can apply local checklists, payment methods, and document-review steps. Start with the Colorado probate hub, then verify the packet with the clerk of the right court before you sign or submit anything.

This Colorado probate guide also flags when a source-backed checklist is not enough. Disputes, debt problems, unclear heirs, and real estate sales can call for a Colorado probate attorney before anyone is appointed or distributes property.

Where Colorado Probate Is Filed

Venue for the first probate proceeding sits in the county where the decedent had his or her domicile or residence at death. If the decedent lived outside Colorado, venue lies in any Colorado county where the decedent owned property at death. (Source: C.R.S. 15-12-201.)

Two Colorado facts trip people up:

1. There is only one separate probate court in the state. The Colorado Probate Code defines "court" as the District Court, "except in the city and county of Denver where it is the probate court" (C.R.S. 15-10-201(10)). Everywhere outside Denver, you file probate with the District Court for that county. Colorado groups its 64 counties into 23 judicial districts, so one District Court can serve several counties from different courthouse locations.
2. Most estates open with the registrar, not a judge. Informal applications go to the probate registrar, who reviews the paperwork without a hearing. The Judicial Branch's Open an Estate page confirms that an informal case is accepted without notice to anyone once the paperwork is in order, though any interested person can still demand formal proceedings later.

For related state pages, keep these nearby:

• Colorado probate hub for state-level orientation
• Colorado probate timeline for the deadline sequence
• Colorado personal representative duties for the appointed person's task list
• Colorado small estate affidavit guide for the $88,000 shortcut
• Colorado intestate succession guide for who inherits without a will
• Colorado probate costs guide for docket fees and compensation rules

The Main Estate Paths

A Colorado probate guide should separate the three working paths: the small estate affidavit, informal probate, and formal probate. The court structure is the same statewide, but the paperwork and oversight differ.

Small Estate Affidavit (JDF 999)

Colorado lets a successor collect personal property with an affidavit, no court case at all, when three conditions hold (C.R.S. 15-12-1201):

• The fair market value of property subject to the will or intestate succession, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed twice the exempt property allowance, as adjusted for inflation under C.R.S. 15-10-112. For deaths in 2026 that limit is $88,000, because the Department of Revenue set the 2026 exempt property allowance at $44,000. For 2025 deaths the limit is $86,000. The year of death controls, so check the official DOR adjustment table before relying on a number you read online.
• At least 10 days have passed since the death.
• No personal representative has been appointed and no appointment application is pending anywhere.

The affidavit reaches personal property only: bank accounts, vehicles, final paychecks, securities, and safe deposit box contents. It cannot transfer Colorado real estate. The Judicial Branch publishes the form as JDF 999 with instructions in JDF 998, with one wrinkle for vehicles: the Colorado DMV does not accept JDF 999 for a title transfer and requires its own affidavit, form DR 2712, instead. The Colorado small estate affidavit guide walks through the form line by line.

Informal Probate

Informal probate is Colorado's default full-administration path. The applicant files with the registrar, who checks the application against C.R.S. 15-12-301 and issues letters without a hearing. The personal representative then administers the estate with little court involvement: gathering assets, paying valid claims, and distributing what remains.

Informal probate fits estates with an uncontested will, or no will but cooperative heirs, and a clear asset picture. The estate still follows the statutory duties covered in the Colorado personal representative duties guide, including the inventory and the creditor notice steps below.

Formal Probate and Supervised Administration

Formal testacy is litigation to determine whether the decedent left a valid will. An interested person petitions the court under C.R.S. 15-12-401, and a judge decides after notice and hearing. Formal proceedings fit contested wills, questioned documents, unclear heirs, or any estate that needs binding court orders. A petitioner can also ask for supervised administration, which keeps the personal representative under continuing court oversight for an added docket fee.

Whichever path applies, watch the outer clock: probate and appointment proceedings generally must start within 3 years of the death (C.R.S. 15-12-108). After 3 years, options narrow sharply. When there is no will, the estate passes by intestate succession, which the Colorado intestate succession guide covers with the 2026 spouse tiers of $442,000, $332,000, and $221,000 under C.R.S. 15-11-102 as adjusted.

Real Estate and the Beneficiary Deed

Colorado real estate often bypasses probate when the owner planned ahead. The state's native tool is the beneficiary deed: the owner records a deed before death with the county clerk and recorder, naming a grantee-beneficiary, and title transfers at death without probate (C.R.S. 15-15-402). Other states call this a transfer on death deed. Two cautions: the deed must be recorded before the owner dies, and a recorded beneficiary deed can affect Medicaid eligibility under C.R.S. 15-15-403.

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship also passes real estate outside probate. But solely owned real estate with no beneficiary deed needs a probate case, because the small estate affidavit cannot move land. The how to avoid probate in Colorado guide maps beneficiary deeds, joint tenancy, and beneficiary designations in one place.

Documents to Gather Before Filing

The clerk, the registrar, banks, and beneficiaries will ask many of the same questions. A short document stack makes the first conversation more useful.

Bring or locate:

• Certified death certificates
• The original will and any codicils, if found
• Names, ages, and addresses for heirs, devisees, and any nominated personal representative
• A list of bank accounts, vehicles, personal property, business interests, and real property
• Deeds, county parcel information, and mortgage details for real estate
• Recent bills, creditor letters, funeral invoices, and tax notices
• Beneficiary designations, payable-on-death records, joint tenancy records, and trust documents

One deadline applies even before any case opens: the custodian of a will must lodge it with the court that has probate jurisdiction within 10 days of learning of the death (C.R.S. 15-11-516). Lodging the will is free and does not open a probate case. The Colorado will requirements guide explains what makes the document valid, including Colorado's unusual rule that a will may be either witnessed by two people or acknowledged before a notary (C.R.S. 15-11-502), and that handwritten holographic wills are valid.

Timeline Signals to Track

Every estate is different, but this Colorado probate guide uses a few statutory timing signals as planning anchors. Confirm each one with the court for the specific estate.

Expect a routine informal estate to stay open at least 6 months and often closer to a year, because the creditor period and the closing rule both have to run. The Colorado probate timeline walks through these dates in order, and the Colorado creditor claims guide covers the notice and bar rules in depth.

Costs and Fees

Colorado probate costs are simpler than most cost articles claim. Keep three buckets apart.

First, court docket fees are set statewide by statute, not county by county. Under C.R.S. 13-32-102, the docket fee to open a standard decedent's estate is $199, plus a $30 equal justice fee the court collects on that filing since January 1, 2025 under C.R.S. 13-32-102(7), for $229 total. An estate eligible for the small-estate summary procedure under C.R.S. 15-12-1203 pays $83 plus the same $30 fee, $113 total. A petition for supervised administration adds $198, with no equal justice fee on that add-on.

Second, personal representative and attorney pay follows a reasonableness standard, not a percentage. Colorado entitles fiduciaries and their lawyers to reasonable compensation under C.R.S. 15-10-602, and courts weigh the factors in C.R.S. 15-10-603, such as time, skill, and the size and results of the administration. National articles quoting fixed executor percentages describe other states, not Colorado.

Third, no Colorado statute imposes a probate tax on estate value, and Colorado does not collect an inheritance tax from beneficiaries. Final income tax returns and federal estate tax on very large estates can still apply. The Colorado probate costs guide breaks down each bucket with the current fee list.

When to Talk With a Probate Attorney

Some estates are simple enough to plan with JDF forms and clerk instructions. Others need a lawyer before anyone applies, sells property, pays a creditor, or distributes money.

Consider talking with a Colorado probate attorney when:

• Heirs disagree about the will, the assets, or who should serve
• The will's validity is in doubt, which points toward formal testacy
• The estate may be insolvent
• Real estate must be sold to pay debts
• The decedent owned property in more than one state
• A business interest, lawsuit, tax issue, or Medicaid estate recovery issue is present
• The asset list or heir picture is unclear for a small estate affidavit

This Colorado probate guide can help organize the source-backed task list and the right court. A lawyer can advise on rights, strategy, disputes, and signing decisions.

Practical Filing Sequence

Use this sequence as a planning checklist:

1. Locate the original will, certified death certificates, account records, deeds, and creditor notices, and lodge the will within 10 days.
2. Confirm the right court: the District Court for the county where the person lived, or the Denver Probate Court for Denver.
3. Decide whether the estate fits the small estate affidavit, informal probate, or formal probate, using the year-of-death dollar limit.
4. If a case is needed, apply to the registrar for informal probate, or petition for formal proceedings, and obtain letters.
5. File the inventory within 3 months and run the creditor notice steps.
6. Keep receipts, filed copies, account statements, asset records, and distribution records together.
7. Close by sworn statement once the waiting periods have run, or use the summary procedure for qualifying small estates.

The Colorado personal representative duties guide expands each administration step, and the Colorado probate hub connects this guide to county-level filing pages as the rollout continues.

This guide is general information about Colorado estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the District Court or Denver Probate Court that has venue, the official JDF instructions, or a licensed Colorado attorney.

Sources

Sources:

• Title: Colorado Revised Statutes (official statute portal). Publisher: Colorado General Assembly. Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-12-201, Venue for first and subsequent estate proceedings. Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-10-201(10), definition of "court" (District Court; Denver Probate Court). Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-12-301 (informal probate application) and 15-12-401 (formal testacy proceedings). Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-12-108, ultimate time limit for probate proceedings. Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-12-1201, collection of personal property by affidavit, and 15-10-112, cost of living adjustment. Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-12-706 (inventory), 15-12-801 and 15-12-803 (creditor notice and claim bars), 15-12-1003 (closing by sworn statement). Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-11-502 (witnessed or notarized wills; holographic wills) and 15-11-516 (lodging of will after death). Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-15-402, real property beneficiary deed. Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 13-32-102, fees in probate proceedings. Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 13 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: C.R.S. 15-10-602 and 15-10-603, reasonable compensation and reasonableness factors. Publisher: Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado General Assembly). Publication Date: Current official code, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/colorado-revised-statutes
• Title: Cost of Living Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts (Probate Index, 2026). Publisher: Colorado Department of Revenue. Publication Date: 2026 table, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://tax.colorado.gov/sites/tax/files/documents/Probate_Index_2026.xlsx
• Title: Open an Estate. Publisher: Colorado Judicial Branch. Publication Date: Current court self-help resource, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/self-help/open-estate
• Title: Denver Probate Court. Publisher: Colorado Judicial Branch. Publication Date: Current court location page, accessed 2026-06-10. URL: https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/location/denver-probate-court