When a person who dies in Colorado owns real estate solely in their name or individually owns over a certain dollar amount in assets (which varies depending on the year in which the person dies), a probate estate must be opened with a Colorado court. In conjunction with opening a probate estate, the court appoints a personal representative, who is the person with the authority and responsibility to collect and safeguard the decedent’s assets, pay all legitimate creditors, and distribute the estate’s assets to the beneficiaries named in the decedent’s probated will, or if the decedent had no will, to the decedent’s “heirs” as determined under Colorado law.

The attorneys at Rounds & Bowman represent personal representatives through all aspects of the probate process, including petitioning or applying for probate and appointment, notifying interested parties and creditors, preparing estate inventories, accountings, and income/estate tax returns, and making final distributions of estate assets to the proper beneficiaries.