A person to whom general letters are issued first has exclusive authority under the letters until his appointment is terminated or modified. If, through error, general letters are afterwards issued to another, the first appointed representative may recover any property of the estate in the hands of the representative subsequently appointed, but the acts of the latter done in good faith before notice of the first letters are not void for want of validity of appointment.
Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1587, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 153-3-702.
15-12-703. General duties - relation and liability to persons interested in estate - duty to search for a designated beneficiary agreement - standing to sue. (1) A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the standards of care applicable to trustees as described by part 8 of article 5 of this title 15. A personal representative is under a duty to settle and distribute the estate of the decedent in accordance with the terms of any probated and effective will and this code, and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate. The personal representative shall use the authority conferred by this code, the terms of the will, if any, and any order in proceedings to which the personal representative is party for the best interests of successors to the estate.
(2) A personal representative shall not be surcharged for acts of administration or distribution if the conduct in question was authorized at the time. Subject to other obligations of administration, an informally probated will is authority to administer and distribute the estate according to its terms. An order of appointment of a personal representative, whether issued in informal or formal proceedings, is authority to distribute apparently intestate assets to the heirs of the decedent if, at the time of distribution, the personal representative is not aware of a pending testacy proceeding, a proceeding to vacate an order entered in an earlier testacy proceeding, a formal proceeding questioning the personal representative's appointment or fitness to continue, or a supervised administration proceeding. This section does not affect the duty of the personal representative to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of claimants whose claims have been allowed, the surviving spouse, any minor and dependent children, and any omitted child of the decedent as described elsewhere in this code.
(3) Repealed.
(3.5) A personal representative shall not be surcharged for distributions made that do not take into consideration the possible birth of a posthumously conceived child unless prior to such distribution:
(a) The personal representative has received notice or has actual knowledge that there is an intention to use an individual's genetic material to create a child or has received written notice that there may be an intention to use an individual's genetic material to create a child; and
(b) The birth of the child could affect the distribution of the decedent's estate.
(4) Except as to proceedings which do not survive the death of the decedent, a personal representative of a decedent domiciled in this state at death has the same standing to sue and be sued in the courts of this state and the courts of any other jurisdiction as the decedent had immediately prior to death.
(5) A personal representative shall not be surcharged for distributions made that do not take into consideration a designated beneficiary agreement if:
(a) The personal representative has reviewed the records of the county clerk and recorder's office in every county in Colorado in which the personal representative has actual knowledge that the decedent was domiciled at any time during the three years prior to the decedent's death for a valid, unrevoked designated beneficiary agreement in which the decedent granted the right of intestate succession; and
(b) The personal representative has not received actual notice nor has actual knowledge of the existence of a valid, unrevoked designated beneficiary agreement in which the decedent granted the right of intestate succession.
(6) Subject to the good faith standard of section 15-10-602 (6), the provisions of section 15-10-605, and subsections (7) and (8) of this section, personal representatives, persons with priority for appointment as personal representative, and court-appointed fiduciaries may ascertain the testator's probable intent or estate planning purpose on issues involving the decedent's estate and, where not contrary to public policy or law, shall have standing and may prosecute or defend that intent or purpose, at the expense of the estate, in proceedings brought under this code.
(7) Without limiting the general applicability of subsection (6) of this section:
(a) (I) A person serving as personal representative or a person nominated as personal representative in a will or appointed as public or special administrator has standing, but no duty, to offer a will for probate. If such person declines or is unable to offer the will for probate, any person who is a successor of the decedent under the will may offer the will for probate and defend the validity of the will in proceedings under this code. In either case, the person may act notwithstanding the fact that he or she may be a devisee under the will. The will proponent's reasonable fees and costs are payable as an expense of administration.
(II) For purposes of this subsection (7), a proponent other than the nominated personal representative should be treated as a nominated personal representative in cases where the nominated personal representative has declined or is unable to offer the will for probate. Such treatment shall not confer upon the proponent a higher priority for appointment than was conferred upon such proponent pursuant to section 15-12-203 before the will was offered for probate.
(b) The personal representative has standing to oppose, at estate expense, a person's claim to be an heir; an omitted spouse or child; a spouse, including a common law spouse; or a devisee.
(c) The personal representative has standing to oppose, at estate expense, a surviving spouse's attempt to invalidate a marital agreement that limits his or her share in the estate.
(d) Where a surviving spouse petitions for an elective share, the court proceeding is an action between the spouse and the interested person or persons whose interests may be affected, and the personal representative is a neutral party to the proceeding. In such a proceeding, the fees and costs reasonably incurred by the personal representative and his or her agents in providing basic information to the parties regarding the augmented estate are payable as an estate expense. The personal representative may prepare a calculation of the augmented estate at estate expense.
(8) (a) In any proceeding brought under this code where any personal representative, person with priority for appointment as a personal representative, nominated personal representative, or court-appointed fiduciary purports to participate in the proceeding at estate expense and has a material conflict of interest, any interested person may petition the court pursuant to section 15-12-614 (1)(b) or 15-12-713 for the appointment of an independent special administrator to represent, to the extent the court directs, the estate's interests in the litigation at estate expense.
(b) For purposes of this subsection (8), the fact that a personal representative, a person with priority for appointment as a personal representative, a nominated personal representative, or a court-appointed fiduciary is also a successor or a potential successor of the estate is not, in and of itself, a material conflict of interest.
Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1587, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 153-3-703. L. 75: (3) repealed, p. 606, � 62, effective July 1. L. 2010: (3.5) added, (SB 10-199), ch. 374, p. 1751, � 14, effective July 1. L. 2011: (3.5)(a) amended, (SB 11-083), ch. 101, p. 303, � 5, effective August 10. L. 2012: (5) added, (SB 12-131), ch. 114, p. 393, � 1, effective April 13. L. 2013: (6), (7), and (8) added, (SB 13-077), ch. 190, p. 767, � 3, effective August 7. L. 2018: (1) amended, (SB 18-180), ch. 169, p. 1193, � 12, effective January 1, 2019. L. 2022: (1), (2), and (4) amended, (SB 22-092), ch. 60, p. 279, � 13, effective August 10.
Cross references: For the duty of a personal representative to take possession of decedent's estate, see � 15-12-709.
15-12-704. Personal representative to proceed without court order - exception. A personal representative shall proceed expeditiously with the settlement and distribution of a decedent's estate and, except as otherwise specified or ordered in regard to a supervised personal representative, do so without adjudication, order, or direction of the court, but he may invoke the jurisdiction of the court, in proceedings authorized by this code, to resolve questions concerning the estate or its administration.
Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1587, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 153-3-704.
15-12-705. Duty of personal representative - information to heirs and devisees. (1) Not later than thirty days after appointment, every personal representative, except any special administrator, shall give information of his or her appointment to the heirs and devisees, including, if there has been no formal testacy proceeding and if the personal representative was appointed on the assumption that the decedent died intestate, the devisees in any will mentioned in the application for appointment of a personal representative. The information shall be delivered or sent by ordinary mail to each of the heirs and devisees whose address is reasonably available to the personal representative. The duty does not extend to require information to persons who have been adjudicated in a prior formal testacy proceeding to have no interest in the estate. The information shall:
(a) Include the name, address, and date of appointment of the personal representative;
(b) Include the date of death of the decedent;
(c) Indicate whether the decedent died intestate or testate and, if the decedent died testate, the dates of the will and any codicils thereto, the date of admission to probate, and whether the probate was formal or informal;
(d) Indicate that it is being sent to persons who have or may have some interest in the estate being administered;
(e) Indicate whether bond has been filed;
(f) Indicate whether administration is supervised and, if administration is unsupervised, that the court will consider ordering supervised administration if requested by an interested person;
(g) Indicate that papers relating to the estate, including an inventory of estate assets, as described in section 15-12-706, are either on file with the court or available to be obtained by interested persons from the personal representative;
(h) Indicate that interested persons are entitled to receive an accounting;
(i) Indicate that the surviving spouse, minor children, and dependent children may be entitled to exempt property and a family allowance if a request for payment is made in the manner and within the time limits prescribed by statutes;
(j) Indicate that the surviving spouse may have a right of election to take a portion of the augmented estate if a petition is filed within the time limits prescribed by statute;
(k) Indicate that, because a court will not routinely review or adjudicate matters unless it is specifically requested to do so by a beneficiary, creditor, or other interested person, all interested persons, including beneficiaries and creditors, have the responsibility to protect their own rights and interests in the estate in the manner provided by the provisions of this code by filing an appropriate pleading with the court by which the estate is being administered and serving it on all interested persons pursuant to section 15-10-401;
(l) Indicate that all interested parties have the right to obtain information about the estate by filing a demand for notice pursuant to section 15-12-204;
(m) Indicate that any individual who has knowledge that there is or may be an intention to use an individual's genetic material to create a child and that the birth of the child could affect the distribution of the decedent's estate should give written notice of such knowledge to the personal representative of the decedent's estate; and
(n) Indicate that any individual who has knowledge that there is a valid, unrevoked designated beneficiary agreement in which the decedent granted the right of intestate succession should give written notice of such knowledge to the personal representative of the decedent's estate.
(2) The personal representative's failure to give the information required by this section is a breach of his or her duty to the persons concerned but does not affect the validity of the personal representative's appointment, powers, or other duties. A personal representative may inform other persons of his or her appointment by delivery or ordinary first-class mail.
(3) The personal representative shall file with the court a copy of the information provided and a statement of when, to whom, and at which address or addresses it was provided.
Source: L. 73: R&RE, p. 1588, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 153-3-705. L. 96: Entire section amended, p. 659, � 11, effective July 1. L. 2008: (1) amended, p. 483, � 5, effective July 1. L. 2010: (1)(g) and (1)(h) amended and (1)(i) added, (SB 10-199), ch. 374, p. 1752, � 15, effective July 1. L. 2011: (1)(i) amended, (SB 11-083), ch. 101, p. 304, � 6, effective August 10. L. 2013: (1) amended and (3) added, (SB 13-077), ch. 190, p. 769, � 4, effective August 7. L. 2015: (1)(i) amended, (SB 15-264), ch. 259, p. 951, � 38, effective August 5.
Cross references: For provisions relating to the time of taking effect or the provisions for transition of this code, see � 15-17-101.