Colorado Small Estate Affidavit: $88,000 Limit for 2026 Deaths

Colorado lets a successor collect a deceased person's personal property with a sworn affidavit when the estate is small enough, without opening probate. Under C.R.S. 15-12-1201, the affidavit can be used ten or more days after the death, and the limit depends on the year the person died: $88,000 for a 2026 death, $86,000 for a 2025 death and $82,000 for a 2024 death.

The affidavit reaches bank accounts, safe deposit box contents, belongings, stock and money owed to the person. It cannot transfer a house, and the Colorado DMV uses its own affidavit for vehicles. For how other states compare, see our small estate affidavit rules by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-07. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Colorado's collection of personal property by affidavit (C.R.S. 15-12-1201 and 15-12-1202) and the small estates summary procedure for an appointed personal representative (C.R.S. 15-12-1203 and 15-12-1204), as shown in the 2025 official Colorado Revised Statutes and the Colorado Judicial Branch's 2026 forms. It does not cover full probate administration, who inherits under Colorado intestacy rules, estate tax, or the law of any other state.

Colorado's small estate limit by year of death

Colorado does not use one fixed dollar figure. C.R.S. 15-12-1201 sets the limit at "twice the amount set forth in section 15-11-403, as adjusted by section 15-10-112." Section 15-11-403 is the exempt property allowance, and section 15-10-112 adjusts it for inflation each year.

The Colorado Department of Revenue publishes the adjusted figures. Its 2026 probate index table, prepared January 21, 2026, lists $44,000 as the exempt property amount for 2026 deaths, which puts the affidavit limit at $88,000. The court's affidavit form, JDF 999, prints the same year-of-death figures.

Use the row for the year the person died, even if you sign the affidavit in a later year. For a death before 2020, use the Department of Revenue's probate index table, which the court's JDF 998 guide points to (it lists, for example, $68,000 for a 2019 death).

Watch out: A figure you see online may be right for a different year of death. A guide that says $86,000 is correct for a 2025 death, but not for a 2026 death.

Colorado law requires the Department of Revenue to publish the updated list "before February 1" of each year, so the figure for 2027 deaths should appear by early 2027.

What counts toward the limit

The court's form describes the test as "the total fair market value of all property owned by the decedent and subject to disposition by will or intestate succession at the time of the decedent's death, wherever that property is located, less liens and encumbrances." Three points follow from that wording:

• Fair market value, less liens and encumbrances. You count what the property was worth, minus any loan secured by it.
• Wherever located. Property in other states counts, not only property in Colorado.
• Subject to a will or intestate succession. Intestate succession is the default inheritance law when there is no will.

That last phrase suggests that assets passing outside a will or intestacy, such as a jointly owned account or a payable-on-death account, fall outside the count. No official Colorado page we reviewed says so expressly. If a large part of the estate passes that way, ask the probate court clerk or a Colorado lawyer how to value it before you sign.

The 10-day waiting period

C.R.S. 15-12-1201 allows the affidavit "at any time ten or more days after the date of death of a decedent." It is available only while no application or petition to appoint a personal representative is pending or has been granted.

Who can sign the affidavit

The affidavit is made by a successor of the decedent, or by a person acting on behalf of one or more successors. The court's guide defines successors as "Persons other than creditors, who are entitled to property of a decedent under a will or by a statute, e.g. spouse, children," citing C.R.S. 15-10-201(51). The person signing must be 18 or older.

Creditors are not successors, so a creditor cannot use the affidavit to collect a debt.

If you collect property on behalf of other family members, the law treats you as their agent. Under C.R.S. 15-12-1201(4), your duties to them "are the same as the duties of an agent to the agent's principal," and a breach carries the same remedies available against any agent under Colorado law.

What the affidavit must say

Under C.R.S. 15-12-1201 and the official form, the affidavit has to state, among other things:

• The value of the property, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the limit for the year of death.
• At least ten days have passed since the death.
• "No application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction."
• Who the successors are and what each one is entitled to. Under the statute, "Each person is entitled to payment or delivery of the property as set forth in such affidavit."

How to use the affidavit, step by step

1. Wait at least ten days after the death.
2. Check the limit for the year of death in the table above, and total the property that counts, less liens and encumbrances.
3. Get the official forms. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes JDF 999, Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit (revised April 28, 2026) and JDF 998, the Guide to Collecting a Decedent's Personal Property (revised March 19, 2026). Both are linked from the court's Open an Estate self-help page.
4. Sign in front of a notary. The court's guide says to "Sign the Affidavit before a Notary Public."
5. Attach a copy of the death certificate. The guide adds that "Some entities may require a certified copy of the death certificate."
6. Give the affidavit to each bank, company or person holding the property. It is not filed with a court. The guide says: "No filing fee is required, as this document is not filed with the Court."

What the affidavit covers

C.R.S. 15-12-1201 reaches personal property, "including but not limited to funds on deposit at, or any contents of a safe deposit box at, any financial institution; tangible personal property; or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, chose in action, or stock brand belonging to the decedent." A chose in action is a legal claim to money or property. A stock brand is a livestock brand.

Transfer agents re-register securities on the affidavit, and money owed to the decedent or the estate is paid to the successors named in it.

Vehicles: use the DMV's form, not JDF 999

The court's guide is direct: "The Colorado Department of Motor Vehicles ("DMV") will NOT accept JDF 999 but instead requires the use of its own affidavit (DR 2712) to transfer title to motor vehicles, motorcycles, motor homes, etc. owned by the Decedent."

DR 2712 is the State of Colorado Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property Pursuant to Small Estate Proceeding. It uses the same ten-day wait and the same year-of-death limits, and a death certificate must go with it. Title transfers are handled at the county motor vehicle office.

If the owner named a beneficiary for the vehicle before death, the DMV uses a different form, DR 2009 (Transfer of Title Upon Death Designated Beneficiary), under C.R.S. 42-6-110.5. The Colorado DMV's guide for when a loved one dies explains how to transfer a title from a deceased owner.

Final paycheck

Colorado has a separate wage rule that does not need the affidavit. Under Colorado's wage law in Title 8 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, when a worker dies and no personal representative has been appointed, the employer "shall pay the amount earned, vested, and determinable to the deceased employee's surviving spouse. If there is no surviving spouse, the employer shall pay the amount due to the deceased employee's next legal heir upon the request of such heir."

The statute provides for proof of the relationship by affidavit and a written receipt, and paying under this rule discharges the employer. The statute text sets no dollar cap.

Unclaimed property

Money held by the State of Colorado as unclaimed property is claimed through the state's own process. We did not verify what documents the state asks heirs to provide or whether it accepts a JDF 999 affidavit. For how to search, see Colorado unclaimed property.

Real estate is not covered

The court's guide says: "The affidavit cannot be used to transfer real estate but may only be used to collect personal property." JDF 999 repeats that it "is not valid for the transfer of real estate."

There is one narrow exception for debts secured by real property, such as a loan the decedent made that is secured by a mortgage or deed of trust. To act on behalf of the holder of a debt secured by a mortgage, deed of trust or other security document, the person making the affidavit must record a copy of the affidavit and a copy of the death certificate (or a verification of death document) with the clerk and recorder of the county where the real property is located (C.R.S. 15-12-1201(3.5)).

A house or land owned in the decedent's name generally needs a court process: probate or, when no probate is pending and at least a year has passed since the death, a petition to the probate court in the county where the property is located to determine the heirs or devisees (C.R.S. 15-12-1302). Colorado property records explains how to look up how a property is titled.

Liability and false affidavits

The affidavit protects the bank or other holder. Under C.R.S. 15-12-1202(1), a holder that pays on the affidavit "is discharged and released to the same extent as if he or she dealt with a personal representative of the decedent." The holder does not have to check how the property is used or "inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit."

The person who receives the property carries the risk. C.R.S. 15-12-1202(4) says that person "is answerable and accountable therefor to any personal representative of the estate or to any other person having a superior right." No time limit is stated.

Signing a false statement under oath can be a crime. Colorado's criminal code provides that "Perjury in the second degree is a class 2 misdemeanor." That offense covers a materially false statement under oath made with intent to mislead a public servant outside an official proceeding. We did not find an official source on whether an affidavit given to a bank meets that test, but a false affidavit also leaves the signer answerable to the rightful heirs and any personal representative.

If a bank refuses to pay

If a holder refuses, the successor can bring a court proceeding to recover the property or compel delivery (C.R.S. 15-12-1202(2)). If the successor's right is established in that proceeding, a holder that refused without reasonable cause "shall be liable for all costs, including reasonable attorney fees and costs, incurred by or on behalf of the persons entitled thereto," and the holder "bears the burden of proving reasonable cause by a preponderance of the evidence" (C.R.S. 15-12-1202(3)).

The small estates summary procedure

For an estate that does need a court-appointed personal representative but is small compared with the allowances and expenses it must cover, C.R.S. 15-12-1203 offers a shortcut inside the court case.

It works only after a court appoints a personal representative. If the inventory and appraisal show that the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the total of:

• personal property the decedent held as a fiduciary or trustee,
• the exempt property allowance,
• the family allowance,
• costs and expenses of administration,
• reasonable funeral expenses, and
• reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness,

then "the personal representative, without giving notice to creditors, may immediately disburse and distribute the estate to the persons entitled thereto and file a closing statement."

This route has no fixed dollar cap. The allowances inside it are adjusted for inflation under C.R.S. 15-10-112, the same way as the affidavit limit.

Unless the court prohibits it, and except in supervised administration, the personal representative closes the estate under C.R.S. 15-12-1204 by filing a verified statement with the court after distribution, after sending a copy to the distributees and to known unpaid creditors and giving affected distributees a full written account. "If no actions or proceedings involving the personal representative are pending in the court one year after the closing statement is filed, the appointment of the personal representative terminates."

We did not confirm the court form number for the closing statement or the probate filing fee. The probate court clerk can tell you both.

When to open probate instead

The affidavit is available only when every condition in C.R.S. 15-12-1201 is met. Consider probate when:

• The property that counts is worth more than the limit for the year of death
• A house or land in the decedent's name needs to change hands
• Someone has already applied to be, or been appointed, personal representative
• The family disagrees about who is entitled to what

See Colorado probate for how an estate is opened and administered, and how probate works for the national picture.

Related

• Small estate affidavit rules by state
• Colorado probate process
• Colorado unclaimed property
• Colorado property records
• Wyoming small estate affidavit
• New Mexico small estate affidavit

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Colorado's small estate procedures under C.R.S. 15-12-1201 to 15-12-1204 (2025 Colorado Revised Statutes) and the Colorado Judicial Branch's 2026 forms, verified on 2026-10-07. It is not legal advice. For help with a specific estate, contact the probate court clerk or self-help center in the county where the person lived, a legal aid office, or a lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Last updated: 2026-10-07.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the small estate limit in Colorado?

It depends on the year of death. Under C.R.S. 15-12-1201 and the Department of Revenue's table, the limit is $88,000 for a 2026 death, $86,000 for 2025 and $82,000 for 2024, measured as property subject to a will or intestacy, less liens and encumbrances.

My parent died in 2025. Which Colorado limit applies?

The 2025 figure, $86,000, applies to a 2025 death even if you sign the affidavit in 2026. The limit follows the year of death, as shown on the court's JDF 999 form.

How long after death can I use a small estate affidavit in Colorado?

At any time ten or more days after the death, under C.R.S. 15-12-1201, as long as no one has applied for or been appointed as personal representative in any jurisdiction.

Does a Colorado small estate affidavit need to be filed with the court?

No. The court's JDF 998 guide says the process does not require a court filing and there is no filing fee. You sign JDF 999 before a notary and give it, with a copy of the death certificate, to the holder of the property.

Can I transfer a house with a small estate affidavit in Colorado?

No. The court's guide says the affidavit cannot be used to transfer real estate. A house or land in the decedent's name generally needs a court process; see the Colorado probate page.

How do I transfer a car title in Colorado without probate?

The Colorado DMV will not accept JDF 999. It requires its own affidavit, DR 2712, with a death certificate, or DR 2009 if the owner named a beneficiary for the vehicle under C.R.S. 42-6-110.5.

Can family collect a deceased worker's final paycheck in Colorado?

Yes, under Colorado's wage law, if no personal representative has been appointed. The employer pays the surviving spouse, or if there is none the next legal heir on request, with proof of the relationship by affidavit and a written receipt.

What can I do if a bank refuses a Colorado small estate affidavit?

You can bring a court proceeding to compel delivery under C.R.S. 15-12-1202(2). If your right is established there, a holder that refused without reasonable cause is liable for all costs, including reasonable attorney fees, and must prove reasonable cause by a preponderance of the evidence.