Probate and trust administration
If someone in your family has died, we help you settle the estate in Colorado, with a flat fee for most cases and a plain list of what comes next.
The first 30 days
- Order 10 to 12 certified copies of the death certificate from the funeral home
- Find the original will or trust, and don't write on it
- Keep paying the mortgage, insurance and utilities on the home
- Don't sell, give away or divide property yet, even if everyone agrees
- Tell Social Security and stop any pension payments
- Call us for a free 30-minute after-a-death call
Probate or a trust?
Set the size of the estate and see what changes for the family: how long it takes, what it costs and who can read the file.
Probate in Colorado
- Time
- 6 to 12 months
- Likely cost
- $8,000 to $20,000
- Privacy
- The will and court filings are public.
A funded trust
- Time
- 2 to 4 months
- Likely cost
- $3,900 flat
- Privacy
- No court file. The trust stays private.
An illustration, not a quote. Colorado sets no probate fee: the court filing is $199, and attorney time is usually billed by the hour. Trust figures are our published flat fees for trust administration.
How probate works in Colorado
File with the court
In Denver, the case goes to the Denver Probate Court, one of the few dedicated probate courts in the country. Elsewhere it's your county's district court. The filing fee is $199.
Letters for the personal representative
Once the court appoints the personal representative, they receive letters that let them deal with banks, the title company and the IRS.
Notice to creditors
A notice runs in a local paper. Creditors have four months from the first publication to make a claim.
Inventory to the heirs
Within three months of appointment, the personal representative lists what the estate owns and sends it to the heirs.
Pay, distribute, close
Bills and taxes are paid, the rest goes to the heirs, and the case closes. Colorado keeps every estate open at least six months.
Fees after a death
The personal representative pays these from the estate, not from their own pocket.
- Small estate affidavit help$650
Under the yearly limit ($86,000 in 2025), no real estate, at least 10 days after the death.
- Informal probate, uncontested$4,200 flat
Filing, notices, inventory, distribution and closing.
- Trust administrationfrom $2,900 flat
Notice to beneficiaries, retitling, distribution and final accounting, with no court.
- Disputed estates$325 an hour
Quoted in writing, with an estimate, before any work starts.
Talk to us this week.
A free 30-minute call with an attorney. We tell you whether you need probate at all, and what it would cost.
Book a call