Colorado Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Colorado probate runs through the District Court of the decedent's county sitting in probate, except in Denver, which has its own standalone Denver Probate Court, and Colorado follows the Uniform Probate Code's informal, formal, and supervised administration tracks rather than requiring a hearing in every case.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Colorado

Denver is the one exception to Colorado's general probate structure: the Denver Probate Court is a standalone, constitutionally separate court, one of four separate courts making up Denver's judicial structure alongside the County, District, and Juvenile Courts, and it has exclusive jurisdiction over probate, estate, guardianship, and conservatorship matters within the City and County of Denver. Every other Colorado county routes probate through that county's District Court, sitting in probate, handled by District Court judges and magistrates.

Colorado adopted the Uniform Probate Code in the mid-1970s, and it offers three procedural tracks. Informal probate is the default and most common path for uncontested estates: a probate registrar, not a judge, appoints the personal representative with no court hearing required, available whenever there is either a valid uncontested will or uncontested intestacy. Formal probate is a court-supervised proceeding, involving an actual hearing before a judge, invoked when there is a will contest, a dispute over who the heirs are, or other complexity requiring judicial resolution. Supervised administration is an additional, separate layer of oversight that can be added onto either an informal or formal opening, where the court stays actively involved in administration decisions rather than the Uniform Probate Code's default hands-off posture; it is not automatic and requires a party to petition for it. Unlike a state such as California, Colorado's default posture under the Uniform Probate Code is for the court to stay out of ongoing administration unless an interested party affirmatively asks it to get involved.

Colorado's creditor claims process also shapes how quickly an estate can realistically close. Under C.R.S. section 15-12-801, creditors must present claims by the earlier of 4 months from the date of first publication of notice to creditors, or 1 year from the date of death. If the personal representative gives a known creditor direct written notice, that creditor instead gets the later of the published-notice deadline or 60 days from the date the notice was mailed, but never later than one year from the date of death. A personal representative can affirmatively shorten the overall claims window to as little as 4 months from first publication simply by publishing notice promptly, which is often the practical floor below which an estate cannot close. Commonly cited overall timelines put informal probate for an uncontested estate at roughly 6 to 12 months, and formal probate at roughly 9 months to 2 years, with heavily contested cases taking substantially longer.

Intestate Succession in Colorado: Who Inherits Without a Will

Colorado's intestate succession statute, C.R.S. sections 15-11-102, 15-11-102.5, and 15-11-103, uses the Uniform Probate Code's dollar-amount-plus-fraction formula. The dollar figures written into the statute are adjusted annually for inflation under C.R.S. section 15-10-112, which sets the "reference base index" as the consumer price index for calendar year 2010.

The surviving spouse takes the entire estate in two situations: when the decedent has no surviving descendant or parent, or when all of the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's descendants and the spouse has no other descendants of their own. Beyond those two situations, the spouse's share is a set dollar amount plus a fraction of whatever balance remains, and both figures depend on the family structure. If the decedent leaves no surviving descendant but a parent survives, the spouse takes the first $300,000 as written in the statute, which inflation-adjusts to $442,000 for deaths in 2026, plus three-quarters of the balance. If all of the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's, but the spouse also has other descendants from a prior relationship, the spouse takes the first $225,000, which adjusts to $332,000 for deaths in 2026, plus one-half of the balance. If one or more of the decedent's descendants are not the spouse's descendants, meaning children from a relationship outside the marriage, the spouse takes the first $150,000, which adjusts to $221,000 for deaths in 2026, plus one-half of the balance.

The tiered structure is set directly by statute, and the adjusted dollar amounts are not a matter of estimation: C.R.S. section 15-10-112(3) requires the Colorado Department of Revenue to publish a cumulative table of them every year before February 1. The three figures above are the year-of-death 2026 amounts from the table the department prepared on January 21, 2026. The equivalent amounts for deaths in 2025 were $431,000, $323,000, and $215,000, so the year of death, not the year you happen to be reading this, controls which row applies. Confirm the figure for the actual year of death against the department's current table.

Colorado is a common-law, equitable-distribution state, not a community-property state. Marital property divides equitably, not automatically 50/50, when a marriage ends in divorce, and there is no community-property carve-out that changes how intestate succession works the way there is in California. Colorado has an intestacy tier that most states do not. Under C.R.S. section 15-11-102.5, added by Senate Bill 10-199 in 2010, a person the decedent granted the right to inherit in a designated beneficiary agreement executed under article 22 of title 15 takes the entire intestate estate if no descendant of the decedent survives, or one-half of the estate if one or more descendants survive. Because C.R.S. section 15-22-104 lets only two unmarried adults enter such an agreement, this tier is in practice the unmarried decedent's counterpart to the spousal share. It is why C.R.S. section 15-11-103 is titled "Share of heirs other than surviving spouse and designated beneficiary": subsection (2) sends to descendants, parents, and more distant relatives only the part of the estate that does not pass to a surviving spouse under section 15-11-102 or to a surviving designated beneficiary under section 15-11-102.5.

If there is no surviving spouse and no surviving designated beneficiary, C.R.S. section 15-11-103 sets the order: first to descendants, distributed per capita at each generation rather than the older per stirpes method; if none, to parents equally; if none, to the descendants of parents, meaning siblings and their descendants, again per capita at each generation; if none, to grandparents equally, with the remainder passing to their descendants; and if no descendant of a grandparent survives either, the estate escheats directly to the State of Colorado under C.R.S. section 15-11-105. Colorado's Uniform Probate Code-based statute has no further catch-all tier for more remote next of kin beyond descendants of grandparents.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Colorado's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Colorado Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Colorado

Colorado's small estate affidavit, authorized under C.R.S. section 15-12-1201, covers personal property only. The threshold is $88,000 for deaths in 2026, up from $86,000 for deaths in 2025. The figure is defined statutorily as twice the "exempt property" amount set in C.R.S. section 15-11-403 and adjusts annually for inflation under C.R.S. section 15-10-112. To use it, at least 10 days must have passed since death, no probate proceeding can already be pending, and the affidavit measures the fair market value of the property subject to disposition by will or intestacy, less any liens or encumbrances. No court hearing is required; the sworn affidavit itself is presented directly to the bank or other institution holding the asset. For thresholds, waiting periods and forms, see our guide to the Colorado small estate affidavit.

For estates that do not qualify for the small estate affidavit but are otherwise uncontested, Colorado's informal probate track, described above, functions as its broader simplified option, since it lets a probate registrar appoint the personal representative without a judge's hearing.

Colorado Does Not Currently Have an Operative Estate or Inheritance Tax

Colorado has no state inheritance tax, and its state estate tax, while technically still on the statute books, has been inoperative for deaths occurring after December 31, 2004. Colorado's estate tax was structured as a "pick-up" or "sponge" tax pegged to a federal state-death-tax credit; when Congress phased that federal credit out between 2002 and 2004, Colorado's tax became effectively $0 and stopped applying. It would only become operative again if Congress reinstated the federal credit it was tied to. Only the federal estate tax can apply to a Colorado estate today, and only above the $15,000,000 per-person exemption for 2026, confirmed directly on IRS.gov, up from $13,990,000 in 2025.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Colorado's informal probate track and small estate affidavit are specifically designed to let many straightforward, uncontested estates proceed without hiring an attorney. A probate attorney becomes genuinely worth engaging when a will contest or dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate includes a business interest, when the family is blended in a way that changes which of Colorado's dollar-amount-plus-fraction spousal share tiers applies, or when a party is considering petitioning for formal or supervised administration because of a dispute or complication.

A will does not let a Colorado estate skip probate outright; even an uncontested estate with a valid will typically still moves through informal probate to have the will admitted and a personal representative appointed. What a valid will accomplishes instead is replacing C.R.S. sections 15-11-102 and 15-11-103 with the decedent's own choices about who inherits, which is a real and separate benefit from avoiding probate itself.

For a broader look at how probate works across the country, see Probate by State.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Colorado as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Colorado, particularly where a contested estate, a business interest, a blended family, or the exact current inflation-adjusted intestate share figures are involved. Figures, thresholds, and program details change and adjust annually; verify current details directly with the Colorado Judicial Branch or the Colorado Department of Revenue before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What court handles probate in Colorado?

In every Colorado county except Denver, the District Court, sitting in probate, handles estate matters. Denver has its own standalone Denver Probate Court, a separate court within Denver's judicial structure with exclusive jurisdiction over probate, estate, guardianship, and conservatorship matters in the city and county of Denver.

Does Colorado have an inheritance tax?

No. Colorado has no state inheritance tax. Colorado's state estate tax statute technically remains on the books, but it has been inoperative for deaths after December 31, 2004, because it was a pick-up tax tied to a federal credit Congress phased out.

Does Colorado have an estate tax?

Not currently in practice. Colorado's estate tax law is still on the statute books but is inoperative because it was tied to a federal state-death-tax credit that no longer exists. Only the federal estate tax can apply, above the $15,000,000 per-person exemption for 2026.

What is the Colorado small estate affidavit threshold?

Under C.R.S. section 15-12-1201, the threshold is $88,000 for deaths in 2026, up from $86,000 in 2025. It is defined as twice the exempt property figure in C.R.S. section 15-11-403 and adjusts annually for inflation.

What is the difference between informal and formal probate in Colorado?

Informal probate is the default path for uncontested wills or uncontested intestate estates; a probate registrar appoints the personal representative with no court hearing. Formal probate involves an actual hearing before a judge and applies when there is a will contest, a dispute over heirs, or other complexity requiring judicial resolution.

Who inherits if there is no will in Colorado?

The Colorado Probate Code, C.R.S. sections 15-11-102, 15-11-102.5, and 15-11-103, controls. A surviving spouse's share depends on whether the decedent had children outside the marriage and whether the spouse has children of their own from another relationship. An unmarried decedent may instead leave a designated beneficiary, a person granted inheritance rights in a recorded designated beneficiary agreement, who takes the entire intestate estate if no descendant survives or one-half if one or more do. Whatever does not pass to a surviving spouse or designated beneficiary goes to descendants, then parents, then siblings and their descendants, then grandparents and their descendants. Colorado has no tier beyond descendants of grandparents, so an estate with no such heir escheats to the state.

How long does probate take in Colorado?

Informal probate for an uncontested estate is commonly cited as taking roughly 6 to 12 months. Formal probate is commonly cited as taking 9 months to 2 years, with heavily contested cases taking substantially longer.