Colorado Inheritance Rules: Heirs, Wills, and Probate

Colorado has no state inheritance tax and no state estate tax, so heirs owe nothing to Colorado for what they receive. The Colorado inheritance rules that actually determine who gets what turn on whether the person who died left a valid will: a will controls distribution, and if there isn’t one, a statutory order based on family relationships takes over. Either way, a surviving spouse has protections that even a will cannot fully strip away.

Who Inherits When There Is No Will

When someone dies without a valid will, Colorado’s intestate succession statutes decide who inherits.¹ The surviving spouse comes first, but the size of the spouse’s share depends on which other relatives are also alive.

The Surviving Spouse’s Share

The spouse takes the entire intestate estate in two situations: when no descendant or parent of the deceased survives, or when every surviving descendant is a child of both spouses and the surviving spouse has no other children.² In blended families and other configurations, the spouse gets a base dollar amount plus a fraction of what remains:

A parent of the deceased survives but there are no descendants: the first $300,000 plus three-fourths of the balance.
All descendants are shared, but the surviving spouse has other children of their own: the first $225,000 plus one-half of the balance.
The deceased has descendants who are not the surviving spouse’s children: the first $150,000 plus one-half of the balance.

Those dollar figures are statutory baselines and adjust each year for cost of living.² The blended-family rule catches many people off guard: a surviving spouse who assumed they would inherit everything can end up sharing the estate with stepchildren.

Children and Other Relatives

Whatever does not go to the spouse passes to the deceased’s descendants, distributed per capita at each generation. That method divides property equally among the living heirs at the closest generation, then pools and redistributes the share of anyone at that level who died before the decedent among their own descendants.³

If no descendants survive, the estate goes to the deceased’s parents. If no parents survive, it passes to the parents’ descendants (siblings, nieces, nephews), then to grandparents or their descendants.³ Adopted children inherit the same as biological children, and half-siblings are treated identically to full siblings. A child born outside of marriage must have paternity established to inherit.

Designated Beneficiary Agreements

Colorado offers one option most states do not. Two unmarried adults can sign a designated beneficiary agreement that grants each other intestate inheritance rights, among other legal protections, once it is recorded with the county clerk and recorder.⁴ A designated beneficiary takes the whole intestate estate if no descendants survive, or one-half if descendants survive.⁵ A later will, power of attorney, or beneficiary designation on an account overrides the agreement.

What Makes a Will Valid in Colorado

A Colorado will must be in writing, signed by the person making it, and either signed by at least two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary. Witnesses must have seen the testator sign or heard the testator acknowledge the signature, and they need to add their signatures within a reasonable time afterward. A handwritten (holographic) will is also valid without witnesses if the signature and material provisions are in the testator’s own handwriting.⁶

A document that doesn’t meet these requirements can still be validated if there is clear and convincing evidence the person intended it to serve as their will, but only through formal court proceedings that add time and expense.⁷

What a Will Cannot Do to a Surviving Spouse

Colorado law gives a surviving spouse three claims that operate independently of what the will says.

The Elective Share

A surviving spouse can choose to take 50 percent of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate instead of what the will provides.⁸ The augmented estate is broader than the probate estate; it also pulls in the deceased’s non-probate transfers to others, non-probate transfers to the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse’s own property.⁹

The marital-property portion scales with the length of the marriage:⁹

Less than 1 year of marriage: supplemental amount only.
1 to 4 years: 10% to 40%, increasing 10% per year.
5 years: 50%.
6 to 9 years: 60% to 90%.
10 years or more: 100%.

Because the elective share is 50 percent of that marital-property portion, the effective claim on the augmented estate ranges from as little as 5 percent after one year of marriage to a full 50 percent after ten years. A five-year marriage produces a 25 percent claim (50 percent of 50 percent).

Exempt Property and Family Allowance

A surviving spouse can also claim an exempt property allowance, set at a $30,000 base as of 2012 and adjusted annually for cost of living.¹⁰ It can be taken in cash or in-kind property, and it comes off the top before creditors or other beneficiaries are paid.

Separately, the surviving spouse and any minor or dependent children the deceased was supporting can receive a reasonable family allowance for living expenses during administration, capped at one year if the estate cannot cover all approved claims.¹⁰ Both allowances take priority over nearly every creditor claim. Colorado’s homestead exemption exists in its property statutes but does not create an additional probate allowance.¹¹

Children, After-Borns, and Disinheritance

A parent can disinherit a child in Colorado, but the will has to say so clearly. Vague omissions invite challenges.

The rule that trips people up involves children born or adopted after the will is signed. If the will doesn’t account for an after-born or after-adopted child, that child is entitled to an intestate share as though there were no will. When the testator had other children when the will was made and left property to them, the omitted child instead shares proportionally in those devises.¹² The safe move is to revise the will after every birth or adoption.

Assets That Bypass Probate Entirely

Several kinds of property transfer at death without going through probate at all, and they follow their own paperwork rather than the will:

Joint tenancy with right of survivorship: ownership passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.
Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts: bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and vehicle titles go to the named beneficiary.
Living trusts: the trust already holds legal title, so the assets are not part of the probate estate.
Life insurance and retirement accounts: benefits go to the named beneficiary.

A beneficiary designation on the account beats a contrary provision in the will every time. Updating one and forgetting the other is a common and costly mistake.

Taxes on Inherited Property

Colorado repealed its estate tax for deaths after December 31, 2004, and does not impose a separate inheritance tax.¹³ The state takes nothing from an heir for the fact of inheritance.

Federal estate tax still exists but only reaches very large estates. The federal exemption for 2026 is approximately $15 million per person, so most Colorado estates owe no federal estate tax either. Inherited property also gets a stepped-up basis for federal income tax purposes, resetting the heir’s cost basis to fair market value at the date of death and wiping out capital gains that accrued during the deceased’s lifetime.

How the Estate Actually Gets Distributed

The route through probate depends on the estate’s size and whether anyone contests it.

Small Estate Affidavit

If the total value of the deceased’s property (minus debts secured by that property) does not exceed $88,000 for a 2026 death, heirs can skip probate court by using the JDF 999 Small Estate Affidavit.¹⁴ At least ten days must pass after the death before the affidavit can be used, and no personal representative appointment can be pending or already granted.¹⁵ The affidavit is presented directly to banks, brokerage firms, or the DMV. It cannot transfer real estate.

Informal and Formal Probate

Estates above that threshold, or that include real property, go through informal or formal probate. Informal probate works when nothing is disputed. The personal representative files with the district court in the county where the deceased lived, and the court issues Letters Testamentary (with a will) or Letters of Administration (without one), authorizing the representative to manage the estate, pay debts, and distribute property.¹⁶

Formal probate requires a court hearing and is used when the estate is contested, the will’s validity is in question, or a document is being offered as a will under the clear-and-convincing-evidence standard.⁷

Creditor Claims and Payment Order

Debts don’t vanish at death, but heirs are not personally liable for them. Creditors can only collect from the estate. After the personal representative publishes notice, creditors generally have four months to file claims; those who receive direct written notice have a shorter window; and no claim can be filed more than one year after the date of death. Approved claims are paid in a statutory order:¹⁷

Administration costs (court fees, attorney fees, expenses of running the estate).
Funeral and final disposition expenses.
Debts with federal preference, including federal taxes.
Medical expenses of the last illness.
Debts with state preference, including state taxes.
Medicaid and public assistance recovery claims.
Unpaid child support.
All other claims, including credit cards and general unsecured debts.

The spousal exempt property and family allowances are paid before any of these categories. If the estate runs out before every creditor is paid, the remaining debts go unpaid; creditors cannot go after the heirs’ own assets.

Deadlines That Can Forfeit Rights

A missed deadline in Colorado probate can eliminate a claim entirely. The ones most likely to matter:

The original will must be lodged with the district court within ten days of the death, even if no probate case is opened.
The small estate affidavit cannot be used until at least ten days after the death.¹⁵
A surviving spouse must file the elective share petition within nine months of the death or six months after the will is probated, whichever comes later. Extensions are available only if requested within the original nine-month window.¹⁸
Creditor claims are due four months from the date of published notice, with a one-year absolute cap from the date of death.

A spouse who files the elective share petition more than nine months after the death without having secured an extension in time loses the right to include the deceased’s non-probate transfers in the augmented estate, which can sharply reduce what the claim is worth.¹⁸

1
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-101 – Intestate Estate
2
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-102 – Share of Spouse
3
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-103 – Share of Heirs Other Than Surviving Spouse and Designated Beneficiary
4
Justia. Colorado Code 15-22-106 – Statutory Designated Beneficiary Agreement
5
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-102.5 – Share of Designated Beneficiary
6
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-502 – Execution
7
Colorado Judicial Branch. General Information on Probate Considerations
8
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-202 – Elective Share
9
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-203 – Composition of the Augmented Estate
10
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-403 – Exempt Property
11
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-402 – Homestead Allowance Abolished
12
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-302 – Omitted Children
13
Colorado General Assembly. Estate Tax
14
Colorado Judicial Branch. Guide to Collecting a Decedent’s Personal Property
15
Colorado Judicial Branch. JDF 999 – Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit
16
Colorado Judicial Branch. Open an Estate
17
Justia. Colorado Code 15-12-805 – Classification of Claims
18
Justia. Colorado Code 15-11-211 – Proceeding for Elective Share – Time Limit