Small estate affidavit in Colorado: what it does not cover.
The affidavit is a fast way to collect bank accounts and a vehicle after a death. It doesn’t move a house. Here’s where the line sits, and what to do when the estate holds real property.
A Colorado small estate affidavit (Colorado Judicial Branch form JDF 999) lets successors collect a deceased person’s personal property without probate when at least ten days have passed, no personal representative is pending or appointed, and the estate’s net value is within the year of death limit ($88,000 for 2026). It never transfers a house; a house means probate.
What does a Colorado small estate affidavit actually do?
The form most people mean is Colorado Judicial Branch form JDF 999, Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit. It’s a sworn statement. The person signing it swears that at least ten days have passed since the death, that no personal representative has been appointed or applied for anywhere, that the net value of all property the person owned that passes by will or intestacy, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, doesn’t exceed the limit for the year of death, and that the signer is entitled to collect what’s listed. The form itself states that it isn’t valid for the transfer of real estate. A bank, a credit union, an employer holding a final paycheck, or an insurer can then release that property to the signer without a court ever appointing anyone.
That’s the whole point of the affidavit. It replaces probate for the smallest estates so that a checking account and a car don’t require a court file. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes the form and its instructions for free, so the templates, PDFs and online versions that show up in search are copies of a public form. Start with the official one.
Two limits define it, and the second is the one this page exists for. Note that the dollar test counts everything, including the net equity in a house, even though the affidavit can never transfer the house.
- The dollar limit on the whole estate. Colorado sets it at twice the exempt property allowance, adjusted each year (C.R.S. 15-12-1201). The current JDF 999 lists $88,000 for a 2026 death, $86,000 for 2025 and $82,000 for 2024, measured as the fair market value of all property passing by will or intestacy, less liens and encumbrances. Check the form for the year of death rather than trusting a number on a third party site.
- Personal property only. The affidavit can’t transfer real property, and no bank, county clerk or title company will treat it as if it could.
What are the requirements for a Colorado small estate affidavit in 2026?
Four conditions decide it, and all four come from C.R.S. 15-12-1201 and the current JDF 999: at least ten days have passed since the death; no application for a personal representative is pending or granted in any state; the net value of all property passing by will or intestacy, less liens and encumbrances, doesn’t exceed the limit for the year of death ($88,000 for 2026); and the signer is entitled to the property listed. Because the affidavit can’t transfer real estate, a solely owned house in the estate means probate for the house regardless of the total, and the house’s equity still counts toward the limit for everything else. Read the JDF 998 instructions for the year of death before you sign anything; the 2026 figure isn’t the figure from earlier years.
One practical test: pull the deed. The county clerk and recorder in Larimer, Weld, Boulder or any Denver metro county can show you how the property is titled. If the deed shows a surviving co-owner or some other arrangement made before death, ask a Colorado probate attorney whether the house passes outside probate at all. If the deed names only the person who died, ask the clerk and recorder whether a beneficiary deed was recorded before the death (Colorado allows one under C.R.S. 15-15-402, and it passes the house outside probate). If there’s none and the house wasn’t held in a trust, the house is estate property and probate is usually the path.
- Personal property, which the affidavit can collect. Bank and credit union accounts, uncashed checks, a final paycheck, refunds, the contents of the home, and vehicles.
- Vehicles, with a wrinkle. The Colorado DMV uses its own affidavit form for transferring a title, so an heir collecting a car usually deals with the DMV form rather than JDF 999.
- Real property, which it can’t. Land and anything attached to it: a house, a condo, a duplex, a vacant lot. If the person who died still held title alone, with no beneficiary deed or trust, the affidavit isn’t the right tool for that property.
What is the minimum amount of estate that requires probate in Colorado?
There’s no minimum that triggers probate by itself, and that’s the part the question gets backwards. Probate in Colorado is needed when the estate holds something the affidavit can’t collect. Personal property over the statutory limit is one trigger. Real property is the other, and it has no floor at all. A house worth a fraction of the personal property limit still needs probate, because the affidavit can’t move a deed regardless of value.
The value of the house is irrelevant to whether probate is required; it matters only to how the sale is handled once the estate is open. Our guide to probate in Colorado walks through that sequence.
So the honest answer for a Northern Colorado estate is this.
Read more: Probate in Colorado: How It Works When There Is a House →
- Bank accounts and a vehicle under the limit, no house. The affidavit will usually do.
- Any house, condo or lot titled in the name of the person who died. Probate, whether the house is worth a little or a lot.
- Personal property over the limit, no house. Probate.
How to fill out a small estate affidavit in Colorado?
Download JDF 999 and its instructions from the Colorado Judicial Branch. The form asks for the name of the person who died, the date of death, a description of the personal property being collected, its value, and the basis for the signer’s claim to it. The signer swears that the conditions are met. Follow the signing instructions on the form itself; they say how the affidavit must be executed to be valid.
You don’t file JDF 999 with a court. You present it to whoever holds the property: the bank, the credit union, the former employer, the insurer. Each holder may keep a copy and may ask for a certified death certificate alongside it. Order several certified copies of the death certificate early; every holder wants an original, and the funeral home or the county vital records office can supply them.
If you have already signed an affidavit for the accounts and then discover a house in the estate, stop and talk to a Colorado probate attorney before collecting anything else. Under C.R.S. 15-12-1202, anyone who receives property under the affidavit remains answerable for it to a later personal representative or to anyone with a superior right, and if the house’s equity pushed the estate over the limit, the sworn value statement was wrong. The house itself goes through probate.
Where people go wrong is treating the affidavit as a general estate tool. It collects what’s listed on it, and nothing else.
- It doesn’t name a personal representative.
- It doesn’t give anyone authority over the house.
- A title company won’t accept it as proof that the signer can sign a deed.
What happens when there is a house in the estate?
The house means probate. In Colorado, informal probate runs through the court registrar without a hearing and is the common path when the will is clear and nobody objects. Formal probate is a court proceeding with notice and a hearing, used when the will or the heirs need a judge’s ruling, and it can be uncontested. Supervised administration is a separate, ongoing court oversight of the whole estate that an interested person can request. Either way, the court appoints a personal representative and issues Letters: Letters Testamentary when there’s a will, Letters of Administration when there isn’t. Those Letters are the document a title company needs to see before the house can be sold.
Creditors get a window, but it isn’t a six month wait. The personal representative publishes a notice to creditors, and claims are due by the date in that notice, at least four months after it first runs, and never later than one year after the death (C.R.S. 15-12-801 and 15-12-803). The estate can be closed by sworn statement six months after the personal representative was appointed or one year after the death, whichever comes first (C.R.S. 15-12-1003). None of that stops the sale. In an unsupervised administration the personal representative generally has authority to sell estate real property without a separate court order, unless the will restricts it or a restriction is endorsed on the Letters. Sale proceeds go into the estate and are distributed when the estate closes. For a very small estate that still includes a house, C.R.S. 15-12-1203 lets the personal representative skip the creditor notice and distribute right away when the net estate doesn’t exceed the exempt property and family allowances plus the costs of administration, the funeral and the last illness; a Colorado probate attorney can tell you whether it fits. The full Colorado probate timeline, from filing to closing the estate, is in our guide to probate in Colorado.
Two more things to handle early. Whoever holds the original will must deliver it to the court within ten days of learning of the death (C.R.S. 15-11-516). If the person who died received Medicaid at age 55 or older, or while living in a nursing facility, the state can file a claim against the estate, including the house (C.R.S. 25.5-4-302), so ask the attorney about it before you count on the sale proceeds. Heirs who sell also generally get a stepped up tax basis, meaning the house is valued as of the date of death for capital gains purposes; our inherited house page covers that side.
Source: Colorado Judicial Branch probate forms and instructions, and a Colorado probate attorney for your specific estate. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm with a Colorado attorney.
Read more: Probate in Colorado: How It Works When There Is a House →
What happens if you don’t file probate in Colorado?
The house stays titled in the name of the person who died. Nobody living has authority to sign a deed for it, so it can’t be sold, refinanced or insured for a sale. The property tax bill keeps coming to a name that can’t pay it. The homeowner insurance may lapse or refuse a claim because the named insured is gone. Utilities, a mortgage, an HOA: each keeps running against an estate no one is administering.
In Northern Colorado we see the result years later: a house in Loveland or Greeley with a roof past its life, a frozen pipe that nobody caught, and a set of heirs who assumed the affidavit or the will alone had handled things. When they finally want to sell, the buyer’s title company asks for Letters, and the probate that was skipped has to be opened then, and Letters issued, before the sale can close. If a year or more has passed since the death there’s no creditor notice period at all, because Colorado bars every pre-death claim one year after death, but the estate still has to be opened and a personal representative appointed. Skipping probate doesn’t avoid it. It delays it and puts it in the way of the sale.
The practical advice is simple. If there’s a house, open probate soon after the death. Informal probate through the Colorado Judicial Branch forms is the usual route when nobody objects. Then decide what to do with the house on your own schedule, knowing the personal representative can sign when the time comes.
Where does a cash sale fit once probate is open?
Once Letters are issued, the personal representative can start planning the sale. Many estate houses in Larimer, Weld and Boulder counties are the same kind of house: decades of belongings inside, deferred maintenance, a furnace and roof near the end of their lives, and heirs who live somewhere else. Listing that house means clearing it, repairing enough to pass an inspection, and coordinating showings from a distance. Some estates should do exactly that, because the market will pay for the work.
Others want the house sold as it stands. That’s where we come in. Amy and Jenny buy houses for cash across Northern Colorado and the Denver metro. We buy as-is with no cleanout, we cover the seller’s closing costs, and there are no fees or commissions. Proceeds are paid to the estate at a local title company.
If listing would clearly net the estate more, we’ll tell you. The personal representative has a duty to the heirs, and a number that only makes sense for us isn’t a number we want signed.
- Selling a house in probate What the personal representative can and can’t do during the sale.
- Selling an inherited house The belongings, the distance and the co-heir side of the same sale.
The small estate affidavit or probate.
The small estate affidavit
- The form JDF 999, Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit, published free by the Colorado Judicial Branch
- What it collects Bank and credit union accounts, uncashed checks, a final paycheck, refunds, the contents of the home, vehicles
- A house, condo or lot Never. It can’t transfer real property, whatever the property is worth
- The court Nothing is filed. The affidavit goes to the bank or other holder, not to a judge
- Who has authority The successor who signs it, for the property listed on it and nothing else
- The limit Personal property under the dollar limit set by statute, which adjusts yearly
Probate
- The forms Colorado Judicial Branch probate forms, informal when uncontested, formal when a court must settle something
- What it covers Everything the affidavit can’t collect, including any house, condo or lot in the estate
- A house, condo or lot The only route. A title company wants to see Letters before the house can be sold
- The court The court appoints a personal representative and issues Letters
- Who has authority The personal representative, under Letters Testamentary with a will or Letters of Administration without
- The limit None. Real property has no floor at all, whatever the house is worth
What to have on hand.
- Several certified copies of the death certificate; every bank and holder wants one
- The original will, if there is one
- JDF 999 and its current instructions from the Colorado Judicial Branch, for the personal property
- Statements or titles for each item of personal property being collected, with values
- The recorded deed for any house, condo or lot, from the county clerk and recorder
- For a house: the Letters issued by the court to the personal representative, which the title company will require
- The most recent mortgage statement, property tax notice and insurance policy for the house
Three clear steps, and nothing to surprise you.
Send the address and where the estate stands
The personal representative sends us the address and the situation. Nothing to clear out, repair or photograph first, and you talk to Amy or Jenny rather than a call center.
Get one written offer with the math shown
Within 24 hours we return one written offer with the math shown, and we walk you through each part: what the house is worth repaired, what the repairs cost, what selling costs, and what we keep.
Close on the estate’s schedule
If the estate says yes, the personal representative picks the closing date, as little as 14 days out or after the creditor period, whichever the estate needs.
Questions homeowners ask us.
Do you need an attorney to file a small estate affidavit?
No. JDF 999 is a self help form published by the Colorado Judicial Branch with instructions written for people without a lawyer, and most successors complete it themselves and hand it to the bank. An attorney becomes worth the cost when the estate is close to the dollar limit, when heirs disagree about who is entitled to collect, or when a house turns up, because a house takes the estate out of affidavit territory entirely.
Can you close out an estate without an attorney?
Yes, in many cases. Informal probate in Colorado runs on Colorado Judicial Branch forms without court hearings, and a personal representative who is organized can open the estate, publish the creditor notice, sell or distribute the house, and close the estate without hiring counsel. Estates with a dispute, an unclear will, unusual debts or property in more than one state generally need a Colorado probate attorney, and the fee is small next to the cost of getting it wrong.
Is probate mandatory in Colorado?
Probate is required when the estate holds property that can’t pass any other way, and a house titled solely in the name of the person who died is the clearest example. Estates with only personal property under the statutory limit can use the small estate affidavit instead. Whether a particular house passes outside the estate is a question for a Colorado probate attorney. The short version for Northern Colorado heirs: no house and a small estate, probably no probate; any house, probate.
Who determines if probate is necessary?
Nobody issues a ruling. The facts of the estate decide it, and the people affected apply them. In practice the decision is made by whoever holds what the heirs want: a bank will accept a valid affidavit for an account under the limit, while a title company will refuse to insure a sale of the house until a court has issued Letters to a personal representative. A Colorado probate attorney can confirm the call in a short consultation, which is worth doing whenever a house is involved.
How long does probate take in Colorado after death?
The floor is set by two clocks. Creditor claims are due by the date in the published notice, at least four months after it first runs and never later than one year after the death. The estate can be closed by sworn statement six months after the personal representative was appointed or one year after the death, whichever comes first. Informal probate with no disputes tends to close once those clocks run and the assets are distributed; formal or contested probate takes as long as the dispute does. The house doesn’t have to wait for the estate to close. In an unsupervised administration the personal representative can generally sell it during the estate, and the proceeds are held until distribution. Source: Colorado Judicial Branch probate forms and instructions.
How much does it cost to go through probate in Colorado?
The costs are a court filing fee set by the Colorado Judicial Branch fee schedule, attorney fees if you hire counsel, and the carrying costs of the house while the estate is open: mortgage, taxes, insurance and utilities. We don’t quote figures here because the fee schedule changes and attorney fees vary widely. The carrying costs are the part heirs underestimate, and they’re the reason many personal representatives sell the house during the estate rather than after it closes.
Why do you have to wait 10 months after probate?
Colorado doesn’t impose a ten month wait that we can point to. What Colorado law does set is a creditor claim deadline (at least four months after the published notice, never more than one year after the death) and an earliest closing date (six months after the personal representative’s appointment or one year after the death, whichever comes first); those are the periods most people are remembering. Timelines longer than that come from the estate itself: a contested will, a hard to value asset, a house that took time to sell. Nothing stops the personal representative from selling the house inside that window when the administration is unsupervised and the will doesn’t restrict it.
Is there a free small estate affidavit form for Colorado?
Yes. JDF 999, Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit, is published by the Colorado Judicial Branch at no charge along with its instructions, and it’s the form most Colorado banks and credit unions recognize (the statute requires the four sworn statements, not the form itself, and some holders use their own version). The paid templates, fillable PDFs and online generators that rank for this search are copies of that public form, sometimes out of date on the dollar limit. Use the official version for the year of death, and remember that no version of it, free or paid, can transfer a house.
When the estate is ready for a number, here is how to get one.
Send us the address and where the estate stands; Amy or Jenny will call, and within 24 hours you’ll have one written offer with the math shown, good for whenever the personal representative is ready.