If you die without a will in Colorado, C.R.S. Section 15-11-102 decides who inherits using dollar thresholds, and your spouse's share can swing depending on whether your children are shared with your spouse. This intestate succession process follows a fixed order set by state law, not your wishes. See the Colorado estate planning guide for your full options.
A signed will replaces this formula with your own choices. Here is exactly how Colorado divides an estate with no will.
Key Takeaways
- C.R.S. Section 15-11-102 uses dollar-figure thresholds, not flat fractions, to set your spouse's share, and the figures adjust periodically for cost of living.
- If all of your children are shared with your surviving spouse and your spouse has no other children, your spouse inherits everything.
- If you have children from another relationship, your spouse's guaranteed dollar amount drops significantly before the remaining balance splits.
- With no surviving spouse or descendants, your estate passes to your parents, then to your siblings and their descendants.
Who Inherits Your Property in Colorado Without a Will?
Colorado's C.R.S. Section 15-11-102 sets your spouse's exact share based on which of several defined circumstances applies to your family, and the law applies whichever circumstance produces the largest share for your spouse.
If You Have a Spouse and No Children
Your spouse inherits your entire estate if you have no surviving descendants and no surviving parent. If a parent of yours survives but you have no descendants, your spouse instead receives the first $300,000 of your estate plus three-fourths of anything remaining, with your parent or parents taking the rest.
If You Have a Spouse and Children You Share Together
If every one of your surviving children is also a child of your current spouse, and your spouse has no other children, your spouse inherits your entire estate. If your spouse has children of their own from elsewhere, your spouse instead receives the first $225,000 plus one-half of the remaining balance, with your shared children dividing the rest.
If You Have a Spouse and Children From Another Relationship
When one or more of your surviving children is not also a child of your current spouse, your spouse receives the first $150,000 of your estate plus one-half of the remaining balance. Your children, including those from the earlier relationship, divide what is left.
If You Have Children and No Spouse
Your descendants inherit your entire estate, divided per capita at each generation, meaning children at the same generational level share equally and a deceased child's share passes down to their own children.
If You Have No Spouse and No Children
Your estate passes to your surviving parent or parents in equal shares. If neither parent survives, it passes to the descendants of your parents, meaning your siblings and their children, divided the same per capita at each generation method.
What Assets Skip Colorado Intestacy Entirely?
Not everything you own runs through Colorado's intestacy formula. Retirement accounts and life insurance policies with a named, living beneficiary pass directly to that person, regardless of what the intestacy statute says. Property you own jointly with a right of survivorship, and bank or brokerage accounts set up as payable-on-death or transfer-on-death, work the same way, passing straight to the surviving co-owner or named beneficiary outside of probate.
This matters because it means intestacy usually only decides what happens to the assets you never got around to titling or designating a beneficiary for, most often a primary residence, a car, or a checking account still in your name alone. For a lot of families, that leftover category still includes the family home, which is exactly why the distribution rules above matter as much as they do.
Worth checking now, before any of this becomes relevant: whether every account you hold actually lists a current beneficiary, and whether an old designation from a divorce or a relationship that ended years ago is still on file with the bank or insurance company. That single detail can override even a carefully written Colorado will, since a designated beneficiary is paid directly and never passes through the will at all.
What Does Dying Without a Will Actually Cost Your Family in Colorado?
The dollar thresholds above sound precise, but they still require a Colorado probate court to value your estate, confirm which circumstance applies, and resolve any disagreement among heirs about how the assets are counted. That process takes time and money that a valid will generally avoids. See how long Colorado probate takes for a realistic timeline.
For blended families, the difference between the $225,000 tier and the $150,000 tier is not trivial, and it turns entirely on whether a child is also your spouse's child. That is not a distinction most people would choose to leave up to a statute.
How to Make Sure Your Wishes Control What Happens
A signed Colorado will replaces every one of these dollar thresholds with your own instructions for your spouse, your children, and anyone else you want to provide for. See write a valid will in Colorado for Colorado's signing and witness requirements, and common Colorado will mistakes for the mistakes that most often get a homemade will challenged.
Our guide on 5 reasons not to die without a will lays out the wider risks of leaving your estate to intestacy in the first place.
FastWill's will package helps you build a valid Colorado will that names your own beneficiaries, rather than leaving that decision to a fixed statutory formula.
Preguntas frecuentes
Does my spouse automatically inherit everything in Colorado if I die without a will?
Only if all of your surviving children are also your spouse's children and your spouse has no other children, or if you have no surviving descendants or parents at all. Otherwise your spouse receives a set dollar amount plus a share of the balance.
What happens to my house if I die without a will in Colorado?
Your house is counted as part of your net estate and divided under the same dollar-threshold formula as the rest of your property, based on which family circumstance applies.
Do stepchildren inherit under Colorado intestacy law?
No, unless you legally adopted them. Colorado intestacy only recognizes biological and legally adopted children as descendants.
Can an unmarried partner inherit in Colorado without a will?
No. Colorado intestacy law does not recognize unmarried partners regardless of how long you lived together. Only a will or beneficiary designation can provide for a partner you are not legally married to.
How do I avoid Colorado's intestacy rules?
Sign a valid Colorado will or fund a living trust that names your own beneficiaries, so your choices control your estate instead of the statutory dollar thresholds.
