By Andy L. Gitkind | Gitkind Law Firm | Boulder County Estate Planning
Most of us intend to get around to estate planning eventually. But life is busy, and it’s easy to put off. If something happens before you’ve put a will in place, Colorado doesn’t leave your family with nothing—the state has a set of default rules that determine what happens to your assets. These rules are called intestate succession laws.
The catch is that those rules reflect a one-size-fits-all formula. They may—or may not—reflect what you actually would have wanted.
What Does “Dying Intestate” Mean?
When someone dies without a valid will, they are said to have died intestate. In Colorado, the probate court will appoint an administrator (personal representative) to manage the estate, and your assets will be distributed according to the state’s intestacy statute—not according to your personal wishes, because those wishes were never written down.
How Does Colorado Distribute Assets Without a Will?
Colorado’s intestacy rules follow a specific order of priority. Here’s how it generally works:
If You Are Married
Your spouse inherits everything—but only if all of your children are also your spouse’s children. If you have children from a prior relationship, the picture changes: your spouse would receive the first $225,000 of your estate plus half of the remainder, with the other half going to your children from that prior relationship. This can create significant complications, particularly in blended families.
If You Have Children But No Spouse
Your estate is divided equally among your children. If a child has predeceased you, their share typically passes to their children (your grandchildren) through a process called per stirpes distribution.
If You Have No Spouse and No Children
Colorado looks to your parents, then your siblings, then more distant relatives, working through a defined hierarchy until it finds living heirs. If no heirs can be found, your estate eventually escheats—meaning it passes to the state of Colorado.
What About Unmarried Partners?
This is one of the most important things to understand. Under Colorado’s intestacy law, an unmarried partner—even a long-term committed partner—inherits nothing. If you and your partner are not married and you have no will, everything you own passes to your closest legal relatives, not to the person you’ve built your life with. Only a will or trust can change this.
What Happens to Your Children Without a Will?
For parents of minor children, this is perhaps the most critical issue of all. Without a will, you have no say in who raises your children if something happens to you. The court will appoint a guardian, and while judges try to act in children’s best interests, they’re working without any guidance from you.
Family members may disagree. The process can be contested. And the outcome may not be what you would have chosen. Naming a guardian in your will is one of the most important gifts you can give your minor children.
What Doesn’t Pass Through Intestacy?
It’s worth knowing that not all assets are affected by intestacy laws. Some assets pass directly to named beneficiaries regardless of whether you have a will:
- Life insurance with a named beneficiary
- Retirement accounts (401(k), IRA) with named beneficiaries
- Jointly owned property with right of survivorship
- Assets held in a trust
- Payable-on-death bank accounts
This means that for some people, intestacy affects less of their estate than they might expect. But it also means that if your beneficiary designations are outdated—pointing to an ex-spouse, a deceased relative, or simply left blank—those assets can end up in the wrong hands regardless of what a will might have said.
The Probate Process Without a Will
Dying without a will doesn’t mean your family avoids probate—if anything, it often makes probate more complicated. The court will need to appoint an personal representative, give notice to potential heirs, and oversee the distribution process. This takes time, costs money, and is a public proceeding.
A well-structured estate plan—particularly one that includes a revocable living trust—can help your family avoid probate entirely, whether or not you have a will.
It’s Easier Than You Think to Put a Plan in Place
One of the things we hear most often from clients after they’ve completed their estate plan is: “I wish I had done this sooner.” The process doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. For many families, a complete estate plan can be put in place in just a couple of meetings.
If you’re in Boulder County and haven’t yet put a plan in place—or if your existing documents are years out of date—we’d love to help. Andy Gitkind has been helping Boulder County families through this process since 2004, with a focus on making it clear, comfortable, and efficient.
Gitkind Law Firm, P.C. | 801 Main St., Suite 230, Louisville, CO 80027 | 303-960-6628 | gitkindlaw.com