Probate in Colorado: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will

In Colorado, probate handles most estates, with a short list of exceptions you should know. If the deceased does not have a will, this is called intestate succession. An estate will go through probate in Colorado if there is no will, with a few exceptions.

• You can place beneficiaries on life insurance policies to avoid probate.  

• You can designate beneficiaries on bank accounts so ownership will transfer automatically.  

• Bank or brokerage accounts can pass to new owners with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation.

• Property owned jointly with right of survivorship will pass to the owner specified.  

If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in Colorado. If the personal property is valued at roughly $88,000 or less (as of 2026, figure is adjusted periodically for inflation), heirs can use an affidavit to collect it as early as 10 days after death, without any court filing at all.

Succession Laws Without a Will in Colorado

Before getting into who inherits what, it helps to know how Colorado treats marital property. Colorado is a common law property state, not a community property state, meaning ownership follows whose name is on the title, deed, or account. Colorado follows the Uniform Probate Code, which tends to keep the process more streamlined than in non-UPC states.

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If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following lines of succession (as of 2026).

• If you have no descendants and you parents are no longer living  your spouse inherits everything.

• If your children are all shared with your surviving spouse, and your spouse has no children from another relationship, your spouse inherits everything.

• If your children are shared with your spouse, but your spouse also has descendants from another relationship, your spouse inherits the first $332,000 of your estate plus 1/2 of the balance. Your descendants inherit the rest.

• If you have children from a relationship other than your current spouse, your spouse inherits the first $221,000 of your estate plus 1/2 of the balance. Your children inherit the rest.

• If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.

• If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit everything.

• If you have no descendants but a parent survives you, your spouse inherits the first $442,000 of your estate plus 3/4 of the balance. Your surviving parent(s) inherit the rest.

Colorado Probate Process

Colorado probate is filed in District Court (Probate) in the county where the deceased lived, except in Denver, which has its own separate Probate Court, and unsupervised administration keeps most uncontested estates out of the courtroom. Most estates close in 6 to 12 months, and Colorado has no state estate tax.

Avoiding Probate in Colorado

Probate isn't mandatory for every asset. Here's how people commonly route around it.

• Put assets in a revocable living trust and name a successor trustee who will manage distributing your assets after your death.

• Place beneficiaries on financial and retirement accounts to identify who will receive those upon your death.  

• Give a co-owner automatic ownership of any joint property by setting up right of survivorship.  

Want to learn more about trusts in Colorado? Learn what you’ll need for a trust.