Colorado · Estate & Probate
The Colorado Wills, Trusts & Estates Guide
Learn Colorado's probate system, will requirements, trust laws, and key documents like powers of attorney and beneficiary deeds for effective estate planning.
2026-2027 Edition · Cited to Colorado law · Plain language
Paperback · $19.99
Ships in 3 to 5 business days. US shipping is $5.99 for one book or $8.99 for two or more. Damaged or misprinted copies are replaced; no refunds. ISBN 9798905110368.
eBook
Read on your phone, tablet or computer. Buy it here and your download link arrives by email, or get it from Google Play Books.
Audiobook
Buy it here and your download link arrives by email, with a free app to listen in. Digitally narrated.
Add-on: Texas Wills & Powers of Attorney Pack · $39.99
Eleven editable forms that go with this guide, including a will, financial and medical powers of attorney and a living will, with a signing guide. Instant download; Word and PDF.
✓ Free bonus toolkit: register your book after purchase and download checklists, worksheets and a starter template for this topic.
Cited to the statute · Legal information, not legal advice
Colorado wills, trusts, and estate planning tools, explained
Will signing rules, revocable trusts, beneficiary deeds, powers of attorney, living wills, the elective share, and intestate succession.
ABOUT THIS BOOK
An estate plan answers two questions: who makes decisions if you cannot, and where your property goes after you die. This guide explains how Colorado law answers both, in plain language.
The Colorado Wills, Trusts & Estates Guide covers the rules for a valid will under C.R.S. § 15-11-502, including signing with two witnesses or before a notary, handwritten wills, and the self-proving affidavit. It explains why Colorado does not recognize oral wills and why a surviving spouse cannot be completely disinherited because of the elective share.
The guide explains revocable living trusts under the Colorado Uniform Trust Code, trust decanting, and the prudent investor rule for trustees. It covers nonprobate transfer tools such as beneficiary deeds, payable-on-death and transfer-on-death designations, and life insurance, along with incapacity documents: the medical durable power of attorney, the living will, and the financial power of attorney under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. It also explains intestate succession when there is no will.
• Steps for the person making a plan and for executors, trustees, and beneficiaries
• Informal probate and creditor claims
• Checklists, comparison tables, and a glossary
• Sample language from statutory forms
Legal information, not legal advice.
WHAT’S INSIDE
- The Foundation: Colorado's Modern Approach to Estates
- The Colorado Probate Code: Your Rulebook
- Wills and Intestate Succession: Your Plan or the State's
- Trusts, Powers of Attorney, and Non-Probate Transfers
- Exceptions, Defenses, and Limitations on Liability
- Rights of Executor, Trustee or Beneficiary
- Step-by-step procedures from each side, with deadlines at a glance
- 24 real-world questions and answers
- Statute index, key court decisions and official forms
- Toolkit: checklists, comparison tables, glossary and common mistakes to avoid
WHY READERS TRUST THIS GUIDE
Plain language. Cited to the statute. Dated so you know it is current.
Every rule is cited to Colorado law so you can verify it.
Cited, so you can check it
Every rule names the section of Colorado law it comes from, so you can read the source yourself.
Plain language, no filler
Written to be read start to finish by someone with no legal training, with worked examples.
Dated and updated
Each guide carries a law-current date and new editions ship when the law changes.
Bonus toolkit
Register your book for this topic’s checklists, worksheets and starter template, as soon as they are ready.
QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU BUY
Colorado will requirements: what to know before you order.
Straight answers about what the guide is, what it covers and how it reaches you.
Does a will have to be notarized in Colorado?
No. A Colorado will can be signed by two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary, and a handwritten will can be valid without either. The guide explains each option.
Can a house pass without probate in Colorado?
Colorado authorizes a beneficiary deed, which the owner records during life and which transfers the property at death. The guide explains how it works under C.R.S. § 15-15-401.
Is this legal advice?
No. It is legal information in plain language, cited to the law, so you understand your options and know what to ask. Reading it creates no attorney-client relationship.
Is it written for Colorado?
Yes. This guide is written for Colorado law and cites the Colorado statutes and rules it relies on. If your case is in another state, choose that state's edition.
KEEP GOING
More guides for Colorado.
Other titles readers of this guide pick up next.
BOUGHT THIS BOOK?
Register it for the bonus toolkit.
Enter the book number from the inside cover. You get this guide’s bonus download as soon as it is ready and a note when a new edition is ready. About a minute.
PLEASE READ
Legal information, not legal advice. STACKED LEGAL® is a publisher, not a law firm. Buying or reading this book creates no attorney-client relationship and promises no outcome. Laws change; verify current law and talk to a licensed attorney in Colorado about your situation.
Paperbacks ship in 3 to 5 business days. No refunds; we replace damaged or misprinted copies. eBooks are sold and delivered by Google Play Books and Amazon under their terms. See the Sales, Shipping & License Policy.