Colorado route screening
This limit is set by the date of death, not by the current year. $88,000 applies to a death in 2026. The screening tool below will not return a figure until a date of death is entered, because measuring an older estate against today’s ceiling would give a confident wrong answer. Basis: C.R.S. s 15-10-112 cost-of-living adjustment, published by year of death on Colorado Judicial form JDF 998.
A successor may collect a decedent's personal property by presenting an affidavit (no court filing) once at least ten days have elapsed since death, no personal representative is appointed or pending, and the fair market value of property subject to disposition by will or intestacy, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed twice the C.R.S. 15-11-403 amount as CPI-adjusted under C.R.S. 15-10-112. The Colorado Judicial Branch (JDF 998) publishes the operative cap by year of death: $88,000 for 2026 deaths. This is an inflation-indexed, year-specific amount, not a permanent threshold, and the affidavit does not transfer real estate.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: This limit is date-dependent. The current published band is $88,000 for 2026-01-01; earlier dates use the bands below. No later session-law supersession is identified in the reviewed record.
Controlling citation: JDF 998; operative amount under C.R.S. 15-12-1201 / 15-10-112 — R: March 19, 2026.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
Year of Death Amount 2026 $88,000 2025 $86,000 2024 $82,000 2023 $80,000 2022 $74,000 2020 & 2021 $70,000
The Colorado ceiling is not one timeless number. It is republished on a schedule, and the figure that governs an estate is the one in force on the day the person died — not the one in force today. Measuring an older estate against the current ceiling can report that it qualifies when the operative limit was lower, so the bands are set out in full below.
| Date of death | Ceiling |
|---|---|
| Deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 | $88,000 |
| Deaths from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025 | $86,000 |
| Deaths from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 | $82,000 |
How the figure is set: C.R.S. s 15-10-112 cost-of-living adjustment, published by year of death on Colorado Judicial form JDF 998.
For a death before 2024 see JDF 998, which lists the figure for each earlier year.
The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.
This reviewed route is limited to personal probate property. A house or other real property is not transferred through this screen, even when the personal-property total is below $88,000. Open the deed and the receiving court’s real-property instructions before assuming the simplified procedure resolves the whole estate.
The reviewed value basis subtracts enforceable liens and encumbrances. Enter the asset value and the lien separately. An unsecured bill is not a lien against an asset unless this state separately requires it as an input.
The reviewed route requires 10 days after death before the affidavit or petition can be used. That is a minimum timing condition, not a promise that the institution or court completes the transfer on that day.
Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.
JDF 999 is the statewide collection-by-affidavit form; JDF 998 is the instruction guide that publishes the year-of-death cap.
Probate opens in District Court in every county except the City and County of Denver, which uses the separate Denver Probate Court.
If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the District Court (Denver Probate Court in the City and County of Denver) or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
Colorado eligibility map
The Colorado threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.
| Question | Recorded Colorado answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Collection of personal property by affidavit (C.R.S. 15-12-1201) | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $88,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 10 days after death; Colorado runs multiple independent, separately-triggered deadlines that cannot be reduced to one honest day count. C.R.S. 15-12-801 requires published notice (at least once during each of three successive weeks) fixing a bar date not earlier than four months from first publication or one year from death, whichever occurs first. C.R.S. 15-12-803(1)(a) bars pre-death claims: (I) creditors barred by publication within the time set in the published notice; (II) creditors barred by written notice within the time set in the written notice; (III) as to all creditors within one year after the decedent's death (outer nonclaim limit). Post-death claims are barred four months after they arise / after PR performance is due (15-12-803(2)). | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | $229 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the District Court (Denver Probate Court in the City and County of Denver) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Colorado has no statutory percentage schedule. C.R.S. 15-10-602(1) entitles a fiduciary and his or her lawyer to reasonable compensation for services rendered on behalf of an estate, and 15-10-602(4) preserves the court's inherent authority and responsibility to determine the reasonableness of compensation and costs. The former schedule sections 15-12-719 and 15-12-721 are both repealed. A court must order refund of excessive compensation. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Eligibility inputs
A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.
| Input | Registry record |
|---|---|
| Threshold | $88,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 |
| Property scope | personal probate property only |
| Value basis | net of enforceable liens and encumbrances |
| Waiting period | 10 days after death |
| Required extra facts | None listed in the registry |
Case-file context
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Colorado descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
The Colorado Judicial Branch statewide Probate Case Fees schedule lists $229 for the 1st Filing for a Decedent's Estate (not small estates), citing C.R.S. 13-32-102(1)(b),(7), and separately lists $113 for a Small Estate filing (13-32-102(1)(a),(7)). The collection-by-affidavit procedure (JDF 999/998) is handled out of court and ordinarily is not filed.
$229 is the recorded statewide amount.
Colorado has no statutory percentage schedule. C.R.S. 15-10-602(1) entitles a fiduciary and his or her lawyer to reasonable compensation for services rendered on behalf of an estate, and 15-10-602(4) preserves the court's inherent authority and responsibility to determine the reasonableness of compensation and costs. The former schedule sections 15-12-719 and 15-12-721 are both repealed. A court must order refund of excessive compensation.
Colorado has no statutory percentage schedule. C.R.S. 15-10-602(1) entitles a fiduciary and his or her lawyer to reasonable compensation for services rendered on behalf of an estate, and 15-10-602(4) preserves the court's inherent authority and responsibility to determine the reasonableness of compensation and costs. The former schedule sections 15-12-719 and 15-12-721 are both repealed. A court must order refund of excessive compensation. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Colorado runs multiple independent, separately-triggered deadlines that cannot be reduced to one honest day count. C.R.S. 15-12-801 requires published notice (at least once during each of three successive weeks) fixing a bar date not earlier than four months from first publication or one year from death, whichever occurs first. C.R.S. 15-12-803(1)(a) bars pre-death claims: (I) creditors barred by publication within the time set in the published notice; (II) creditors barred by written notice within the time set in the written notice; (III) as to all creditors within one year after the decedent's death (outer nonclaim limit). Post-death claims are barred four months after they arise / after PR performance is due (15-12-803(2)).
Court-material note: JDF 999 is the statewide collection-by-affidavit form; JDF 998 is the instruction guide that publishes the year-of-death cap. Probate opens in District Court in every county except the City and County of Denver, which uses the separate Denver Probate Court.
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Colorado ceiling is $88,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $66,000 sits below the Colorado figure and $110,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Colorado counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Colorado ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $66,000 | Below $88,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $110,000 | Above $88,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
JDF 999 is the statewide collection-by-affidavit form; JDF 998 is the instruction guide that publishes the year-of-death cap.
Probate opens in District Court in every county except the City and County of Denver, which uses the separate Denver Probate Court.
Source trail
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: Year of Death Amount 2026 $88,000 2025 $86,000 2024 $82,000 2023 $80,000 2022 $74,000 2020 & 2021 $70,000
What this means: Judiciary-published operative figures; used because the statute states the cap only as an indexed formula. $88,000 is specific to 2026 deaths and must not be frozen as a timeless threshold.
Reviewed source note: less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed twice the amount set forth in section 15-11-403, as adjusted by section 15-10-112; (b) At least ten days have elapsed since the death of the decedent; (c) No application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction;
What this means: The codified figure is expressed as a formula (twice the 15-11-403 amount, CPI-adjusted per 15-10-112); the operative dollar cap is published per year of death by the Judiciary in JDF 998 (source co-small-estate-current).