Quick answer: if personal property is at or under $88,000 and 10 days have passed, the small estate affidavit likely covers it. If real estate titled solely in the decedent's name is involved, probate (usually unsupervised) is needed regardless of the personal property total. Check your own numbers with the Colorado small estate checker.
The question that actually matters: is there a house?
Colorado's small estate affidavit is deliberately narrow — it reaches personal property only, at any value under the cap, and never real estate at all. A house titled solely in the decedent's name never factors into the $88,000 calculation, and it can't be transferred by the affidavit. That means an estate with a modest bank account and a paid-off home — which many families would call "small" — still needs probate or a beneficiary deed recorded before death to clear the real estate's title.
Above the threshold, unsupervised administration is still light
What skips probate before the threshold question even matters
Regardless of a will, a dispute, or the estate's value, certain assets never enter probate: property jointly held, assets already in a living trust, life insurance proceeds, retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, and payable-on-death accounts.
The decision, in order
- Is there real estate titled solely in the decedent's name? If yes — probate (likely unsupervised) or a pre-arranged beneficiary deed is needed for that piece.
- No real estate complication: is personal property at or under $88,000, and has 10 days passed? If yes — the small estate affidavit.
- Above the limit — unsupervised administration if uncontested, formal or supervised administration otherwise.
A local probate attorney can review your estate — many offer a free consultation.
Whichever tier applies, filing happens at the District Court of the decedent's home county — except Denver, which has its own dedicated Denver Probate Court — following the same statutory thresholds statewide.