Colorado Small Estates: the small estate affidavit
The short answer
Colorado calls its simplified route the small estate affidavit, and it is set out in C.R.S. § 15-12-1201. This is the amount for deaths in 2026. It changes every year. You have to wait a set number of days after the death before using it. It does not transfer real estate. A house in the person’s sole name needs the court process instead. The current limit and the date we last read the statute are on the card below.
Colorado’s small estate affidavit
Colorado sets this out in C.R.S. § 15-12-1201. This is the amount for deaths in 2026. It changes every year. The figure itself, and the date we last read that statute, are on the card below.[1]
Colorado
- Procedure:
- small estate affidavit
- Limit:
- $88,000
- Wait:
- 10 days
- Real estate:
- not covered
This is the amount for deaths in 2026. It changes every year.
C.R.S. § 15-12-1201 — official page read September 18, 2026
It does not transfer real estate. A house in the person’s sole name needs the court process instead.[1]
The small estate affidavit is one piece of settling an estate in Colorado. Answer a few questions and Go Forward builds the rest of the list for your situation — the notifications, the accounts, the paperwork — in the order it needs doing.
Build my plan →Steps this page connects to: Check whether probate is required · Order certified death certificates · List what the estate holds
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Sources
- C.R.S. § 15-12-1201 (small estate affidavit) — Colorado — official statute or court self-help page. Read September 18, 2026.
Each state above links to the statute or court page we read, with the date we read it.
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