Title 15, Probate, Trusts, and Fiduciaries

(1) Upon the filing of a petition to establish a conservatorship or for another protective order for the reason that the respondent is a minor, the court shall set a date for hearing. If the court determines at any stage of the proceeding that the interests of the minor are or ma…

(1) Upon the filing of a petition for a conservatorship or other protective order for a respondent for reasons other than being a minor, the court shall set a date for hearing. The court shall appoint a visitor unless the petition does not request the appointment of a conservator…

(1) At or before a hearing under this part 4, the court may order a professional evaluation of the respondent and shall order the evaluation if the respondent so demands. If the court orders the evaluation, the respondent must be examined by a physician, psychologist, or other in…

(1) Unless excused by the court for good cause, a proposed conservator shall attend the hearing. The respondent shall attend the hearing, unless excused by the court for good cause. The respondent may present evidence and subpoena witnesses and documents, examine witnesses, inclu…

(1) If a proceeding is brought for the reason that the respondent is a minor, after a hearing on the petition, upon finding that the appointment of a conservator or other protective order is in the best interest of the minor, the court shall make an appointment or other appropria…

(1) After hearing and upon determining that a basis for a conservatorship or other protective order exists, the court has the following powers, which may be exercised directly or through a conservator: (a) With respect to a minor for reasons of age, all the powers over the estate…

(1) After notice to interested persons and upon express authorization of the court, a conservator may: (a) Make gifts, except as otherwise provided in section 15-14-427 (2); (b) Convey, release, or disclaim contingent and expectant interests in property, including marital propert…

(1) If a basis is established for a protective order with respect to an individual, the court, without appointing a conservator, may: (a) Authorize, direct, or ratify any transaction necessary or desirable to achieve any arrangement for security, service, or care meeting the fore…

(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that: (a) The state makes significant expenditures for nursing home care under the "Colorado Medical Assistance Act"; (b) A large number of persons do not have enough income to afford nursing home care, but have too …

(1) For purposes of this section and sections 15-14-412.7 to 15-14-412.9, unless the context otherwise requires the following definitions apply: (a) "Asset" has the same meaning as set forth in Title XIX of the federal "Social Security Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1396p (e), as amended. …

(1) An income trust within the meaning of this section is a trust established for the benefit of an individual that consists only of pension income, social security, and other monthly income to the individual and accumulated income in the trust and that is established for the pur…

(1) A disability trust within the meaning of this section is a trust that is established for an individual under sixty-five years of age who is disabled, as such term is defined in Title XIX of the federal "Social Security Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1382c (a)(3), as amended, consists o…

(1) A pooled trust within the meaning of this section is a trust consisting of individual accounts established for individuals who are disabled and is established for the purpose or with the effect of establishing or maintaining a person's resource eligibility for medical assista…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, the court, in appointing a conservator, shall consider persons otherwise qualified in the following order of priority: (a) A conservator, guardian of the estate, or other like fiduciary appointed or recognized by…

(1) A protected person or a person interested in the welfare of a protected person may file a petition in the appointing court for an order: (a) Requiring bond or collateral or additional bond or collateral, or reducing bond or collateral; (b) Requiring an accounting for the admi…

Unless the court makes specific findings as to the reasons a bond is not required in the present case, the court shall require a conservator to furnish a bond conditioned upon faithful discharge of all duties of the conservatorship according to law, with sureties as it may specif…

(1) The following rules apply to any bond required: (a) Except as otherwise provided by the terms of the bond, sureties and the conservator are jointly and severally liable. (b) By executing the bond of a conservator, a surety submits to the jurisdiction of the court that issued …

(1) A conservator, in relation to powers conferred by this part 4 or implicit in the title acquired by virtue of the proceeding, is a fiduciary and shall observe the standards of care applicable to a trustee. (2) A conservator shall take into account the limitations of the protec…

(1) Within a time set by the court, but no later than ninety days after appointment, a conservator shall prepare and file with the appointing court a detailed inventory of the estate subject to the conservatorship, together with an oath or affirmation that the inventory is believ…

(1) A conservator shall report to the court about the administration of the estate annually unless the court otherwise directs. Upon filing a petition or motion and after notice, a conservator shall be entitled to a hearing to settle all matters covered in an intermediate or fina…

(1) Except as limited in the appointing order, the appointment of a conservator vests title in the conservator as trustee to all property of the protected person, or to the part thereof specified in the order, held at the time of appointment or thereafter acquired, including titl…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section, the interest of a protected person in property vested in a conservator is not transferable or assignable by the protected person. An attempted transfer or assignment by the protected person, although ine…

Any transaction involving the conservatorship estate that is affected by a substantial conflict between the conservator's fiduciary and personal interests is voidable unless the transaction is expressly authorized by the court after notice to interested persons. A transaction aff…

(1) A person who assists or deals with a conservator in good faith and for value in any transaction other than one requiring a court order under section 15-14-410 or 15-14-411 is protected as though the conservator properly exercised the power. That a person knowingly deals with …

(1) Except as otherwise qualified or limited by the court in its order of appointment and endorsed on the letters, a conservator has all of the powers granted in this section and any additional powers granted by law to a trustee in this state. (2) A conservator, acting reasonably…

(1) The conservator may petition the court for authority to commence and maintain an action for dissolution of marriage or legal separation on behalf of the protected person. The court may grant such authority only if satisfied, after notice and hearing, that: (a) It is in the be…

(1) A conservator may not delegate to an agent or another conservator the entire administration of the estate, but a conservator may otherwise delegate the performance of functions that a prudent trustee of comparable skills may delegate under similar circumstances. (2) The conse…

(1) Unless otherwise specified in the order of appointment and endorsed on the letters of appointment or contrary to the financial plan filed pursuant to section 15-14-418, a conservator may expend or distribute income or principal of the estate of the protected person without fu…

(1) If a protected person dies, the conservator shall deliver to the court for safekeeping any will of the protected person that is in the conservator's possession or control, inform the personal representative or devisees named in the will of the delivery, and retain the estate …

(1) A conservator may pay, or secure by encumbering assets of the estate, claims against the estate or against the protected person arising before or during the conservatorship upon their presentation and allowance in accordance with the priorities stated in subsection (4) of thi…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in the contract, a conservator is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in a fiduciary capacity in the course of administration of the estate unless the conservator fails to reveal in the contract the representative capacity an…

(1) A conservatorship terminates upon the death of the protected person or upon order of the court determining that a conservatorship is no longer necessary or needed to protect the assets of the protected person. Unless created for reasons other than that the protected person is…

(1) A person who is indebted to or has the possession of tangible or intangible property of a protected person may pay the debt or deliver the property to a foreign conservator, guardian of the estate, or other court-appointed fiduciary of the state of residence of the protected …

If a conservator has not been appointed in this state and a petition in a protective proceeding is not pending in this state, a conservator appointed in the state in which the protected person resides may file in a district or probate court of this state, in a county in which pro…

(1) An adult protected person has the right post-adjudication to be represented by a lawyer of the protected person's choosing at the expense of the protected person's estate unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the protected person lacks sufficient capaci…

(1) The general assembly hereby recognizes that each adult individual has the right as a principal to appoint an agent to deal with property or make personal decisions for the individual, but that this right cannot be fully effective unless the principal may empower the agent to …

(1) (a) For purposes of sections 15-14-501 and 15-14-502, "power of attorney" means a power to make health-care decisions granted by an individual. (b) For purposes of section 15-14-502, "power of attorney" also includes a power or delegation that is: (I) Excluded from the applic…

(1) Whenever a principal designates another his attorney-in-fact or agent by a power of attorney in writing and the writing contains the words "This power of attorney shall not be affected by disability of the principal." or "This power of attorney shall become effective upon the…

(1) The death, disability, or incompetence of any principal who has executed a power of attorney in writing, other than a power as described by section 15-14-501, does not revoke or terminate the agency as to the attorney-in-fact, agent, or other person who, without actual knowle…

Sections 15-14-503 to 15-14-509 shall be known and may be cited as the "Colorado Patient Autonomy Act". Source: L. 92: Entire section added, p. 1979, § 2, effective June 4. ANNOTATION Law reviews. For article, "The Colorado Patient Autonomy Act: Opportunities and Challenges", see…

(1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that: (a) Colorado law recognizes the right of an adult to accept or reject medical treatment and artificial nourishment and hydration; (b) Each adult has the right to establish, in advance of the need for medical tr…

As used in sections 15-14-503 to 15-14-509, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) "Adult" means any person eighteen years of age or older. (2) "Advance medical directive" means any written instructions concerning the making of medical treatment decisions on behalf of the per…

(1) The authority of an agent to act on behalf of the principal in consenting to or refusing medical treatment, including artificial nourishment and hydration, may be set forth in a medical durable power of attorney. A medical durable power of attorney may include any directive, …

(1) A health-care provider or health-care facility shall provide notice to a principal and an agent of any policies based on moral convictions or religious beliefs of the health-care provider or health-care facility relative to the withholding or withdrawal of medical treatment. …

(1) An agent or proxy-decision maker, as established in article 18.5 of this title, who acts in good faith in making medical treatment decisions on behalf of a principal pursuant to the terms of a medical durable power of attorney shall not be subject to civil or criminal liabili…

(1) Unless otherwise stated in a medical durable power of attorney, it shall be presumed that the principal intends to have a medical durable power of attorney executed pursuant to this part 5 recognized to the fullest extent possible by the courts of any other state. (2) Unless …