Colorado Small Estate Limit: $88,000 Threshold and Affidavit Steps

Colorado’s small estate limit for 2026 is $88,000. If a person who died in 2026 left personal property worth no more than that figure (after subtracting any debts secured against it), an eligible family member or heir can collect the assets by presenting a notarized affidavit directly to the bank, employer, or other holder — no probate case, no court filing.¹

How the $88,000 Figure Is Set

The ceiling isn’t fixed. Colorado’s probate code ties it to twice the exempt property allowance in C.R.S. § 15-11-403, and that base amount adjusts each year for inflation, rounded down to the nearest $1,000.² For 2026 deaths the result is $88,000. For 2025 deaths it was $86,000.

The number that matters is the limit in effect on the date of death, not the date you file the affidavit. Someone who died in late December 2025 uses the 2025 threshold even if the paperwork isn’t presented until spring. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes a table of thresholds by year of death alongside the affidavit form itself.¹

What Property Counts Toward the Limit

Only property that would otherwise pass through probate is measured against the $88,000 ceiling. The statute counts property owned by the deceased and subject to disposition by will or intestate succession, valued at fair market value and reduced by any liens or encumbrances.³ A car worth $25,000 with an $18,000 loan against it contributes $7,000, not $25,000.

Several common assets don’t count at all, because they pass outside probate:

Payable-on-death bank and brokerage accounts with a named beneficiary.
Life insurance proceeds going to a named beneficiary (unless the estate itself is the beneficiary).
IRAs, 401(k)s, and other retirement accounts with beneficiary designations.
Jointly held property with rights of survivorship, which passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.

Getting this classification right cuts both ways. Counting a payable-on-death account against the limit can push the estate over $88,000 unnecessarily. Leaving out a probate asset that should have been included produces an inaccurate affidavit, which creates exposure later.

Who Can File the Affidavit

Only a “successor” can present the affidavit. Colorado defines that as any person, other than a creditor, entitled to the deceased’s property under a will or under state inheritance law.⁴ In most families that means a surviving spouse, an adult child, a parent, or a sibling. If there’s a will naming beneficiaries, those beneficiaries are the successors. If not, Colorado’s intestacy statutes decide.

Someone who isn’t a successor personally can still handle the paperwork on behalf of successors, acting as their agent and remaining responsible for delivering the collected property to the right people.⁵

The Other Eligibility Rules

Staying under the dollar limit is only part of it. Three additional conditions have to be satisfied.³

At least ten days must have passed since the date of death before anyone presents the affidavit.
No one can have filed a petition to appoint a personal representative anywhere, and no court can have granted such an appointment. If a probate case is already open, the affidavit route is closed.
The affidavit reaches personal property only. Bank accounts, brokerage accounts, safe deposit box contents, vehicles, and tangible belongings are covered. Real estate is not. A house or land titled in the deceased’s name alone requires a probate process regardless of value.

Filling Out the Form and Collecting the Assets

The form is JDF 999, “Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit,” available on the Colorado Judicial Branch website.¹ It asks you to describe each asset (account numbers, VINs, and so on) and estimate fair market value. If all assets will be divided among successors in the same proportions, you can list “All Assets” instead of itemizing.⁵ You’ll also affirm that the ten-day waiting period has passed, that no probate case is pending, and that you’re entitled to the property or acting for someone who is. Then sign it before a notary. Most banks and shipping stores notarize for a small fee.

You do not file the affidavit with any court. You hand it directly to whoever holds the property — a bank, a brokerage firm, an employer holding a final paycheck. Under C.R.S. § 15-12-1201, that holder is required to pay or deliver the property to the successor once they receive a properly executed affidavit.³ The holder is protected when it does so, treated as if it dealt with a court-appointed personal representative, and has no duty to verify the affidavit’s statements.⁶

Vehicles

Cars need one extra step. Take the affidavit and a death certificate to your county motor vehicle office. The office uses those documents to identify the new owner, who then signs the title.⁷ If the deceased completed a DR 2009 (Transfer of Title Upon Death Designated Beneficiary Form) while living, that form replaces the affidavit for the vehicle. It can’t be created after death.

If a Bank Refuses

Banks sometimes balk, particularly when their internal staff aren’t familiar with the process. If a holder refuses to release property, you can bring a court action to compel delivery. When a court finds the refusal lacked reasonable cause, the institution is liable for all your costs, including attorney fees, and the burden of proving the refusal was justified falls on the institution.⁶ Citing C.R.S. § 15-12-1202 to the institution usually ends the standoff without a lawsuit.

What You Owe Once You’ve Collected

Taking possession carries real legal weight. You become personally answerable to any personal representative a court later appoints and to anyone with a superior claim to the property.⁶ If a probate case opens down the line, the appointed representative can demand the property or its value back from you.

Outstanding debts of the deceased — funeral costs, medical bills, credit card balances — come out of the estate before anything is distributed. After debts are paid, what remains goes to the successors under the will, or under Colorado’s intestacy rules if there’s no will. Distributing to the wrong people, skipping known creditors, or keeping funds for yourself exposes you to personal liability and to lawsuits from beneficiaries or creditors who were shorted.¹

The Final Tax Return

The affidavit process doesn’t remove the tax filing duty. If the deceased had enough income in the year of death to require a return, a final federal income tax return still needs to be filed covering January 1 through the date of death. The usual filing deadline applies.⁸

A surviving spouse can file jointly. Otherwise the person in charge of the deceased’s property files, which in a small estate is typically the successor who used the affidavit. If you’re claiming a refund and aren’t a court-appointed representative, attach IRS Form 1310 to the return.⁸ Federal estate tax is not a concern at this scale; Colorado imposes no separate estate or inheritance tax.

If the Estate Is Over the Limit

Probate personal property worth more than $88,000, or any real estate titled in the deceased’s name alone, takes the affidavit off the table. Uncontested estates in that situation usually move into informal probate, where a personal representative is appointed with minimal court involvement and real property can be transferred. Real estate is the single most common reason people who expected to use the affidavit end up in probate anyway — even a modest house owned solely by the deceased pushes the process into court, regardless of the estate’s total dollar value.

1
Colorado Judicial Branch. Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit
2
Justia. Colorado Code 15-10-112 – Effect of Inflation on Dollar Amounts in the Colorado Probate Code
3
Justia. Colorado Code 15-12-1201 – Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit
4
Colorado Judicial Branch. Probate Glossary
5
Colorado Judicial Branch. Guide to Collecting a Decedent’s Personal Property
6
Justia. Colorado Code 15-12-1202 – Effect of Affidavit
7
Department of Revenue – Motor Vehicle. What to Do When a Loved One Dies
8
Internal Revenue Service. Filing a Final Federal Tax Return for Someone Who Has Died