Letters testamentary in Colorado are the court-issued document that gives you legal authority to act as personal representative of a deceased person’s estate when there is a will. You get them by filing an application for informal probate in the county where the decedent lived, submitting the original will and the required forms, and paying a $229 filing fee. A court registrar reviews the paperwork without a hearing, and once approved, signs your letters. From there you can access bank accounts, sell property, pay debts, and distribute assets. Uncontested estates usually close in six to eighteen months.
What Letters Testamentary Let You Do
The document names you as personal representative (Colorado’s term for executor), identifies the decedent, and confirms your authority under C.R.S. § 15-12-701.1Colorado Judicial Branch. Letters Testamentary/Of Administration Your powers begin the moment you’re appointed and relate back to cover beneficial actions you took before the court made it official.2Colorado Public Law. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-701 – Time of Accrual of Duties and Powers
With letters in hand, you can access the decedent’s bank and investment accounts, collect debts owed to the estate, pay outstanding bills, manage or sell real estate, file tax returns for the estate, and distribute assets to beneficiaries. Banks, brokerages, insurance companies, and title companies will each ask to see a certified copy before cooperating, so order several when you receive them.
Filing for Informal Probate
Most Colorado estates go through informal probate. A court registrar reviews your paperwork and issues letters without a hearing — no judge, no courtroom, no testimony. File everything in the county where the decedent lived. If the decedent lived out of state but owned Colorado property, file in the Colorado county where the property is located.3Judicial Legal Help Center. Step 1: Start the Case
You’ll need the following forms, along with the original will:4Colorado Judicial Branch. Instructions – Informal Probate With Will
- JDF 910, Application for Informal Probate of Will and Informal Appointment of Personal Representative
- JDF 911, Acceptance of Appointment
- JDF 912, Renunciation and/or Nomination of Personal Representative, if someone with higher priority is declining to serve
- JDF 913, Order for Informal Probate (fill in the body but leave the date and registrar’s signature blank)
- JDF 519, Letters Testamentary (same instruction: complete the body, leave the signature blank)
Once the registrar reviews and approves your application, they sign the order and your letters, and you’re officially appointed.5Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-307 – Informal Appointment Proceedings – Duty of Registrar
When Formal Probate Is Required Instead
Some situations can’t be handled administratively by a registrar. Formal probate involves a judge or magistrate, requires notice to all interested parties, and includes a hearing where objections can be raised. You’ll need this path when someone disputes the will’s validity, when there’s disagreement about who should serve as personal representative, or when any other contested issue is on the table.
Formal probate begins with a petition, the original will, and a list of all heirs living at the decedent’s death.3Judicial Legal Help Center. Step 1: Start the Case The court then requires notice to heirs, devisees, and potential creditors. Any interested party can file objections. If none are raised, or once the court resolves them, the judge confirms the will and appoints the representative. Letters issue after the hearing. Contested cases can run well beyond a year.
Filing Fee and Certified Copies
The court filing fee for opening a decedent’s estate in Colorado is $229, plus $20 for each certified copy of your letters.6Colorado Judicial Branch. List of Fees Order more copies than you think you need. Banks, brokerages, and title companies each want their own, and going back to the court for additional copies costs time you probably don’t have.
Attorney fees, if you hire one, come out of the estate. Colorado doesn’t set them by statute, so they’re negotiable. Personal representatives are also entitled to reasonable compensation, though family members serving as executor often waive it.
Bond Requirements
A probate bond is a financial guarantee that protects beneficiaries if the personal representative mishandles estate assets. When the court requires one, the amount is based on the estimated value of the decedent’s personal property plus expected income from personal and real property over the following year.7Colorado Public Law. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-604 – Bond Amount
Many wills waive the bond requirement, saving the estate the cost of a surety bond. Even when a bond is initially required, the representative or another interested party can petition the court to excuse it. Beneficiaries who have concerns about the representative can also ask the court to increase it.
What You Must Do After Appointment
Getting letters is the starting line. Colorado imposes specific deadlines from the moment you’re appointed:4Colorado Judicial Branch. Instructions – Informal Probate With Will
- Within 30 days, send an Information of Appointment (JDF 940) to all heirs and file it with the court.
- Within three months, complete an Estate Inventory (JDF 941). You don’t file this with the court, but you must keep it available.
- Publish a Notice to Creditors (JDF 943) in a local newspaper once a week for three consecutive weeks, unless more than a year has passed since the death.
- Maintain an Accounting (JDF 942) of every dollar in and out of the estate. Beneficiaries and the court can demand to see it.
Beyond the paperwork, you’re responsible for protecting estate property. If the decedent owned a home, keep up with the mortgage, insurance, property taxes, and basic maintenance. Rental properties require you to enforce leases and collect rent. You have a fiduciary duty to act in the estate’s best interest, which means no self-dealing and careful documentation of every decision. Mixing estate funds with your personal accounts is the single fastest way to invite legal trouble.
You’re also responsible for the decedent’s final income tax return covering January 1 through the date of death. If the estate generates income during administration, you’ll file an estate income tax return (Form 1041) for each year the estate stays open. Colorado does not impose a separate state estate tax.
Notice to Creditors and Paying Debts
The published notice must give creditors a deadline to file claims, and that deadline can be no earlier than four months from the first publication date or one year from the date of death, whichever comes first.8Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-801 – Notice to Creditors Any claim not presented within the time stated is barred. As an absolute backstop, all claims against the estate are barred one year after the decedent’s death, whether notice was published or not.9Colorado Public Law. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-803 – Limitations on Presentation of Claims
Once the claim period closes, pay allowed claims in the order Colorado law establishes: administration costs and funeral expenses first, then secured debts, then taxes, then unsecured creditors. One year after the death, you must begin paying claims in that priority order, after setting aside enough for family allowances, pending claims, and future administration costs.10Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-807 – Payment of Claims Getting this order wrong can make you personally liable to higher-priority creditors. When the estate can’t pay everyone, proceed carefully.
Closing the Estate
After debts are paid, tax returns filed, and assets distributed, you close the estate. In informal probate, file a Statement of Representative Closing Administration (JDF 965) once six months have passed since your appointment or one year from the date of death, whichever comes first.4Colorado Judicial Branch. Instructions – Informal Probate With Will The estate is considered closed one year after you file that statement.
Most uncontested estates wrap up in six to eighteen months. Formal or contested proceedings often take twelve to twenty-four months, longer when litigation, complex assets, or tax issues are involved.
When You Can Skip Letters Testamentary Entirely
Colorado allows heirs to bypass probate for small estates using an affidavit under C.R.S. § 15-12-1201. If the total estate is worth $74,000 or less and doesn’t include real property, heirs can use a Small Estate Affidavit to collect and distribute assets without obtaining letters at all.11Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes 15-12-1201 – Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit That $74,000 figure was set as of 2023 and is subject to periodic adjustment, so verify the current threshold.
The affidavit must include a sworn statement that the estate qualifies, that debts have been or will be paid, and that the signer is legally entitled to the assets. Providing false information exposes you to fraud charges. Banks and other institutions can accept the affidavit in place of letters, though some are more cooperative than others. When there’s any doubt about whether the estate qualifies, opening a standard probate case is the safer choice.