Avoid Probate Without a Living Trust or Any Legal Fees
There are only 3 things you have to do under Colorado law to completely avoid probate so your estate can go to your family in 1 to 11 days after your death. You can do all three of these steps yourself because none of them require any complex legal documents or the services of a lawyer.
- Use a Beneficiary Deed on your Colorado home and any other real estate you own in Colorado (CRS 15-15-402). You can make this deed on this website or with a packet you fill out at home.
- Use "Pay on Death" or "Transfer on Death" provisions on all your bank and investment accounts (stocks and bonds) (CRS 15-15-221 and CRS 15-15-301). You do this yourself by having your financial institution that has your bank accounts or the company that has your stocks and bonds set up your accounts this way.
- Keep the total value of all your other personal property at the time of your death under $50,000 (CRS 15-12-1201). (This is the value of what these assets would sell for at the time of your death, not what you paid for them.)
Life insurance policies, annuities and retirement plans do not have to go through probate UNLESS you name your estate as the beneficiary or all your named beneficiaries die before you do. Be sure you have contingent beneficiaries on all of these accounts.
Most children or other heirs have no idea what to do to distribute your estate assets after your death so they end up hiring a lawyer. Our Colorado Estate Packet contains the necessary forms and instructions so they know exactly what to do with each asset and when to do it so they can avoid that huge expense. That’s another important reason to set your estate up this way.
SUGGESTION: If you are the beneficiary of your parent’s estate or another relative’s estate, you should tell them about this so your inheritance is not significantly delayed and reduced by unnecessary legal fees and other costs in probate.