Will requirements in Colorado

Colorado requires you to be 18 and of sound mind, judged as at the time of signing. The capacity standard asks whether you understood what you owned, who would naturally inherit, and what the document did.

A notary can serve two different functions in Colorado. It can replace the witnesses outright, producing a valid will with no witnesses. Or, on a conventionally witnessed will, it can produce a self-proving affidavit so the witnesses never need to testify.

Colorado has also adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, giving a third execution route with its own requirements. Between witnessed, notarized, handwritten, and electronic wills, Colorado recognises more valid paths than almost any state — though that breadth makes it worth confirming which formalities apply to the route you actually choose.

Colorado accepts holographic wills where the material portions and signature are in your handwriting, with no witnesses required. The document need not be entirely handwritten.

Given that Colorado also allows a notarized will without witnesses, the holographic route is less necessary here than in states where witnesses are the only option. A notarized will is generally easier to prove than a handwritten one.

Colorado allows collection of property by affidavit where the estate falls below a statutory threshold, after a short waiting period. The figure is inflation-adjusted, so it moves.

We are not printing a number here because the sources available disagree about the current amount. The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes the applicable figure and the affidavit form.

Colorado is a common law property state. Ownership follows title rather than being automatically shared because property was acquired during the marriage.

Colorado protects a surviving spouse through an elective share, so a spouse generally cannot be disinherited by will alone. Colorado's elective share is calculated on an augmented estate that can reach beyond probate assets, which is worth understanding if your plan relies on non-probate transfers.

Colorado provides a medical durable power of attorney for appointing a health-care agent, and a separate living will declaration for treatment preferences. Colorado also uses CPR directives and MOST forms in medical settings, which are distinct from the advance directive itself.

For financial matters Colorado has adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, which generally makes its statutory form more portable across state lines.