Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Colorado

The surviving spouse takes the whole estate if the decedent left no descendants or parents, or if all of the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendants. Otherwise the spouse takes a set dollar amount plus a fraction of the rest: $300,000 plus three-quarters if a parent but no descendant survives; $225,000 plus one-half if all descendants are shared but the spouse has other descendants; $150,000 plus one-half if any of the decedent's descendants are not the spouse's. These dollar amounts are adjusted each year for inflation. The rest goes to descendants (per capita at each generation), then parents, then the parents' descendants (siblings and their lines), then grandparents' families.

A surviving spouse of a decedent who lived in Colorado may elect to take 50% of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate (which counts many non-probate transfers). If that and other amounts total less than $50,000 (adjusted for inflation), the spouse also gets a supplemental amount to bring it up to that figure. Exempt property and the family allowance are in addition to the elective share.

A successor can collect the decedent's personal property (bank accounts, safe deposit box contents, vehicles, stocks, money owed) by presenting an affidavit (form JDF 999) to whoever holds it, if at least 10 days have passed since death, no personal representative has been appointed or applied for anywhere, and the estate's value less liens is no more than the inflation-adjusted limit for the year of death: $88,000 for 2026 deaths, $86,000 for 2025, $82,000 for 2024. The affidavit is not filed with the court and cannot be used to transfer real estate.