Title 15, Probate, Trusts, and Fiduciaries
0 chapters · 926 sections in this title.
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-1310 Uniformity of application and construction
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In applying and construing this uniform act, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it. Source: L. 2021: Entire part added with relocations, (SB 21-266), ch. 423, p. 2800, � 11, effective…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-1311 Application of part
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This part 13 applies to the will of a decedent who dies on or after July 2, 2021. Source: L. 2021: Entire part added with relocations, (SB 21-266), ch. 423, p. 2800, � 11, effective July 2.
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-201 Definitions
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(1) Bona fide purchaser means a purchaser for value in good faith and without notice of an adverse claim. The notation of a state documentary fee on a recorded instrument pursuant to section 39-13-103, C.R.S., is prima facie evidence that the transfer described therein was made t…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-202 Elective-share
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(1) Elective-share amount. The surviving spouse of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state has a right of election, under the limitations and conditions stated in this part 2, to take an elective-share amount equal to fifty percent of the value of the marital-property portion…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-203 Composition of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate
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(1) Subject to section 15-11-208, the value of the augmented estate, to the extent provided in sections 15-11-204, 15-11-205, 15-11-206, and 15-11-207, consists of the sum of the values of all property, whether real or personal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, where…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-204 Decedent's net probate estate
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The value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's probate estate, reduced by funeral and administrative expenses, family allowance, exempt property, and enforceable claims. Source: L. 2014: Entire part R&RE, (HB 14-1322), ch. 296, p. 1223, � 2, effective Augu…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-205 Decedent's nonprobate transfers to others
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The value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, not included in the decedent's probate estate under section 15-11-204, of any of the following types, in the amount provided respectively for each type of transfer: (1) Property…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-206 Decedent's nonprobate transfers to the surviving spouse
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Excluding property passing to the surviving spouse under the federal social security system after the decedent's date of death, the value of the augmented estate includes the value of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to the decedent's surviving spouse, which consist of all pro…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-207 Surviving spouse's property and nonprobate transfers to others
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(1) Except to the extent included in the augmented estate under section 15-11-204 or 15-11-206, the value of the augmented estate includes the value of: (a) Property that was owned by the decedent's surviving spouse at the decedent's death, including: (I) The surviving spouse's f…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-208 Exclusions, valuations, and overlapping application
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(1) Exclusions. (a) The value of any property is excluded from the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others: (I) To the extent the decedent received adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth for a transfer of the property; or (II) If the property was transferred …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-209 Sources from which elective-share payable
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(1) Elective-share amount only. (a) In a proceeding for an elective-share, the following are applied first to satisfy the elective-share amount and to reduce or eliminate any contributions due from the decedent's probate estate and recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfer…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-210 Personal liability of recipients
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(1) Only original recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, and the donees of the recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, to the extent the donees have the property or its proceeds, are liable to make a proportional contribution toward sati…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-211 Proceeding for elective-share - time limit
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, the election must be made by filing in the court and mailing or delivering to the personal representative, if any, a petition for the elective-share within nine months after the date of the decedent's death or within six m…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-212 Right of election personal to surviving spouse - incapacitated surviving spouse
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(1) Surviving spouse must be living at time of election. The right of election may be exercised only by a surviving spouse who is living when the petition for the elective-share is filed in the court under section 15-11-211. If the election is not exercised by the surviving spous…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-213 Waiver of right to elect and of other rights
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(1) Any affirmation, modification, or waiver of a marital right or obligation, as defined in section 14-2-302, C.R.S., made on or after July 1, 2014, is unenforceable unless the affirmation, modification, or waiver is contained in a premarital or marital agreement, as defined in …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-214 Protection of payers and other third parties
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(1) Although under this part 2, a payment, item of property, or other benefit is included in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, a payer or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary de…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-301 Entitlement of spouse; premarital will
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(1) If a testator's surviving spouse married the testator after the testator executed his or her will, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive, as an intestate share, no less than the value of the share of the estate he or she would have received if the testator had died inte…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-302 Omitted children
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(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, if a testator becomes a parent to a child after the execution of the testator's will and fails to provide in the will for the child, the omitted child receives a share in the estate as follows: (a) If the testator had no c…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-401 Applicable law
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This part 4 applies to the estate of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state. Rights to exempt property and a family allowance for a decedent who dies not domiciled in this state are governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at death. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-402 Homestead
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The provisions of sections 38-41-201 and 38-41-204, C.R.S., provide for a homestead exemption but shall not create an allowance for the surviving spouse or minor children. A personal representative's obligation to distribute property as an exempt property allowance under section …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-403 Exempt property
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(1) (a) Prior to January 1, 2012, the decedent's surviving spouse is entitled to exempt property from the estate in the form of cash in the amount of or other property of the estate in the value of twenty-six thousand dollars in excess of any security interests therein. If there …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-404 Family allowance
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(1) In addition to the right to exempt property, the decedent's surviving spouse and minor children who the decedent was obligated to support and children who were in fact being supported by the decedent are entitled to a reasonable allowance in money out of the estate for their …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-405 Source, determination, and documentation
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(1) (a) (I) If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised or disposed of by memorandum under section 15-11-513 to any person other than a person entitled to exempt property may not be used to satisfy rights to exempt property. Subject to this restriction, t…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-501 Who may make a will
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An individual eighteen or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 997, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. Editor's note: This section is similar to former � 15-11-501 as it existed prior to 1995.
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-502 Execution - witnessed or notarized wills - holographic wills
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(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section and in sections 15-11-503, 15-11-506, and 15-11-513, a will shall be: (a) In writing; (b) Signed by the testator, or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-503 Writings intended as wills
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(1) Although a document, or writing added upon a document, was not executed in compliance with section 15-11-502, the document or writing is treated as if it had been executed in compliance with that section if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and con…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-504 Self-proved will
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(1) A will that is executed with attesting witnesses may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved by acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-505 Who may witness
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(1) An individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (2) The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1000, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. Editor's note: This…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-506 Choice of law as to execution
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A written will is valid if executed in compliance with section 15-11-502 or 15-11-503 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or of the law of the place where, at the time of execution or at the time of death, th…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-507 Revocation by writing or by act
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(1) A will or any part thereof is revoked: (a) By executing a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or part expressly or by inconsistency; or (b) By performing a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed the act with the intent and for the purpose of revoking…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-508 Revocation by change of circumstances
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Except as provided in sections 15-11-803 and 15-11-804, a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or any part of it. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1001, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. Editor's note: This section is similar to former � 15-11-508 as it existed prior to 1…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-509 Revival of revoked will
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(1) If a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will is thereafter revoked by a revocatory act under section 15-11-507 (1)(b), the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-510 Incorporation by reference
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A writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1001, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. Editor's n…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-511 Testamentary additions to trusts
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(1) A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established (i) during the testator's lifetime by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person, including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust, although the …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-512 Events of independent significance
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A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events that have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator's death. The execution or revocation …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-513 Separate writing or memorandum identifying devise of certain types of tangible personal property
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Whether or not the provisions relating to holographic wills apply, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money. To be admissible under this section as eviden…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-514 Contracts concerning succession
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A contract to make a will or devise, or not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate, if executed after July 1, 1995, may be established only by (i) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract, (ii) an express reference in a will to a contract and extr…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-515 Deposit of will with court in testator's lifetime
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A will may be deposited by the testator or the testator's agent with any court for safekeeping, under rules of the court. The will shall be sealed and kept confidential. During the testator's lifetime, a deposited will shall be delivered only to the testator or to a person author…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-516 Duty of custodian of will; lodging of will after death; transfer of lodged will; liability
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(1) Within ten days after a testator ‘s death or as soon thereafter as the death becomes known to the custodian of an instrument purporting to be the testator ‘s will, the custodian shall deliver the will to the court having probate jurisdiction in the Colorado county where the d…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-517 Penalty clause for contest
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A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1003, � 3, effective July 1…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-601 Scope
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In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this part 6 control the construction of a will. In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the provisions of sections 15-11-603 and 15-11-604 shall apply to wills and codicils executed or …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-602 Will may pass all property and after-acquired property
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A will may provide for the passage of all property the testator owns at death and all property acquired by the estate after the testator's death. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1003, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. Editor's note: This section is similar to former � 15-11-604 as…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-603 Antilapse; deceased devisee; class gifts
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(1) Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) Alternative devise means a devise that is expressly created by the will and, under the terms of the will, can take effect instead of another devise on the happening of one or more events, includi…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-604 Failure of testamentary provision
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(1) Except as provided in section 15-11-603, a devise, other than a residuary devise, that fails for any reason becomes a part of the residue. (2) Except as provided in section 15-11-603, if the residue is devised to two or more persons, the share of a residuary devisee that fail…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-605 Increase in securities; accessions
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(1) If a testator executes a will that devises securities and the testator then owned securities that meet the description in the will, the devise includes additional securities owned by the testator at death to the extent the additional securities were acquired by the testator a…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-606 Nonademption of specified devises - unpaid proceeds of sale, condemnation, or insurance - sale by conservator or agent
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(1) A specific devisee has a right to the specifically devised property in the testator ‘s estate at death and: (a) Any balance of the purchase price, together with any security agreement, owing from a purchaser to the testator at death by reason of sale of the property; (b) Any …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-607 Nonexoneration
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A specific devise passes subject to any mortgage interest existing at the date of death, without right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts. Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1008, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. Editor's note: This section is…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-608 Exercise of power of appointment - repeal. (Repealed)
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Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1008, � 3, effective July 1, 1995. L. 2014: (2) added by revision, (HB 14-1353), ch. 209, pp. 782, 783, �� 2, 5. Editor's note: (1) This section was similar to former � 15-11-610 as it existed prior to 1995. (2) Subsection (2) provided for the …
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-609 Ademption by satisfaction
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(1) Property a testator gave in his or her lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise in whole or in part, only if (i) the will provides for deduction of the gift, (ii) the testator declared in a contemporaneous writing that the gift is in satisfaction of the d…
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-701 Scope
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For the purposes of this part 7, the term governing instrument shall be as defined in section 15-10-201 (22); except: (1) Governing instrument shall not include a deed that transfers any interest in real property; however, section 15-11-712 shall apply to such deeds. (2) As the a…