Will and Inheritance Statistics in Colorado: 25+ Facts (2026)

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Most Coloradans will inherit something, leave something behind, or both, yet only a minority have put their wishes in writing. The gap between what people own and what they have legally planned is one of the most striking stories in the numbers.

Below are 22 facts on wills, deaths, estates, and inheritance in Colorado and the wider United States. Every figure is linked to its source at the foot of the page. Updated July 2026.

Contents:

How many Coloradans have a will

1. Only about 24% of US adults have a will

In Caring.com's 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, just 24% of American adults said they had a will, down from 33% in 2022.1 There is no reason to think Colorado is far from the national picture, which means roughly three in four adults in the state have no will.

2. 56% of Americans have no estate plan at all

Trust & Will's 2026 report found that 26% of US adults have a will and only 14% have a trust, leaving 56% of adults with no estate plan of any kind.2 The share with a will actually slipped from 31% the year before.

3. Gallup puts long-run will ownership near 46%

Gallup polling has historically found a higher figure, with 46% of US adults reporting a will in 2021, a share that has stayed close to half for two decades.3 The differences between surveys come down to question wording and sampling, but all agree a large minority is unprotected.

4. Will ownership rises sharply with age

The same Gallup data shows only 20% of adults under 30 have a will, while just over 76% of those aged 65 and older do.4 Wills are overwhelmingly an older person's document, which matters a lot for an aging state.

5. About 976,000 Coloradans are 65 or older

Roughly 16.5% of Colorado's population, close to 976,000 residents, is aged 65 and over, and that share is climbing every year.5 This is the age band most likely to have real assets to pass on.

6. Colorado has about 5.9 million residents and 2.5 million households

The US Census Bureau counts roughly 5.9 million people living in Colorado across about 2.5 million households.6 If national will rates hold, well over a million Colorado households have no will in place.

Deaths and estates in Colorado

7. Nearly 45,000 Coloradans die each year

Colorado recorded 44,862 deaths in 2023, according to state vital statistics.7 Every one of those deaths left an estate that was settled either by a will or by default state law.

8. Life expectancy in Colorado is about 78.5 years

Average life expectancy in the state sits at 78.5 years, per the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.8 That gives most adults decades of warning to plan, yet the majority still put it off.

9. About two-thirds of Colorado households own their home

Colorado's homeownership rate is roughly 65.7%.9 A home is usually the single largest asset in an estate, and for most families it is the reason a will is worth having.

10. The typical Colorado home is worth around $539,000

The median value of an owner-occupied home in Colorado is about $539,400, well above the US median of roughly $333,000.10 A single house of that size is often enough to trigger formal probate.

11. Median household income in Colorado is about $97,000

Colorado's median household income is roughly $97,113, about 20% above the national figure.11 Higher incomes tend to build larger estates, which raises the stakes of dying without instructions.

Net worth and the great wealth transfer

12. The median US family net worth is about $193,000

The Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances put median family net worth at $192,900 and the mean at about $1.06 million, a record jump from 2019.12 The gap between median and mean shows how concentrated wealth is at the top.

13. Around $84 trillion will change hands by 2045

Cerulli Associates projects that $84.4 trillion in wealth will transfer through 2045, with $72.6 trillion going to heirs and $11.9 trillion to charity.13 It is the largest intergenerational handover in US history, and Colorado's share runs into the hundreds of billions.

14. Baby Boomers alone will pass down more than $53 trillion

Of that total, more than $53 trillion, about 63% of all transfers, will come from Baby Boomer households.14 Boomers are exactly the cohort now moving into the ages when a will becomes urgent.

15. Just 1.5% of households hold 42% of the wealth in transit

Cerulli also finds that high and ultra-high-net-worth households, only 1.5% of the total, account for $35.8 trillion, or 42%, of the wealth being passed down.15 Most estates, though, are ordinary family estates where a simple will does the job.

Why so many people have no will

16. The top reason for having no will is simple procrastination

In Caring.com's study, 43% of people without an estate plan said they "just haven't gotten around to it," the most common answer every year since 2022.16 Delay, not disagreement, is the real obstacle.

17. Many wrongly believe they have too little to leave

Trust & Will's 2026 data shows the leading reasons for skipping a will are believing you do not have enough assets (27%), procrastination (23%), and not knowing where to start (17%), with cost cited by only 15%.17 Given Colorado home values, the "not enough assets" belief is usually mistaken.

18. Will ownership is far lower among Black and Hispanic adults

In 2025, will ownership was 28% among white respondents but only 16% among Black respondents and 14% among Hispanic respondents, and those gaps are widening.18 The groups with the least legal protection are often those with the most to lose.

19. Estate planning gaps deepen the racial wealth gap

The Urban Institute warns that limited access to wills and estate planning helps pass the racial wealth and homeownership gaps from one generation to the next.19 A home lost to a messy intestate succession is family wealth that never compounds.

20. A will lets you, not the state, name guardians and heirs

AARP notes that a will is the only way to name a guardian for minor children and to direct who receives your property, rather than leaving both to a court.20 For parents, that alone is the strongest argument for writing one.

What happens in Colorado with no will

21. Colorado law, not you, decides who inherits

Under Colorado Revised Statutes section 15-11-102, if you die without a will and leave a spouse plus children who are not also the spouse's children, the spouse takes only the first $150,000 plus half the remainder; the rest passes by a fixed formula.21 That default may be nothing like what you would have chosen.

22. Intestate rules only reach probate assets, and can surprise families

Colorado's intestacy statute applies only to solely owned probate assets, and where a surviving spouse shares children with the deceased and has no others, the spouse inherits the entire probate estate; if the spouse instead has other children of their own, that share is the first $225,000 plus half the balance before descendants take anything.22 Few families realize how these thresholds split an estate until it is too late.

The single fix for almost all of this is writing a valid will. You can put your wishes on paper in an evening with our guided will builder, or read more background in our companion piece on how many Coloradans have a will.

Sources

  1. 1Caring.com, 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study (caring.com)
  2. 2Trust & Will, 2026 Estate Planning Report (trustandwill.com)
  3. 3Gallup, How Many Americans Have a Will? (2021) (news.gallup.com)
  4. 4Gallup, How Many Americans Have a Will? (will ownership by age) (news.gallup.com)
  5. 5America's Health Rankings, Population Age 65+ in Colorado (americashealthrankings.org)
  6. 6US Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Colorado (census.gov)
  7. 7The Colorado Sun, Most common causes of death in Colorado in 2023 (coloradosun.com)
  8. 8CDC/NCHS, Stats of the States: Colorado (cdc.gov)
  9. 9FRED (St. Louis Fed), Homeownership Rate for Colorado (fred.stlouisfed.org)
  10. 10Data USA, Colorado median property value (datausa.io)
  11. 11Data USA, Colorado median household income (datausa.io)
  12. 12Federal Reserve, Survey of Consumer Finances 2022 (federalreserve.gov)
  13. 13Cerulli Associates, $84 Trillion in Wealth Transfers Through 2045 (cerulli.com)
  14. 14Bankrate, The Great Wealth Transfer (bankrate.com)
  15. 15Cerulli Associates, wealth concentration among HNW households (cerulli.com)
  16. 16Caring.com, top reasons Americans lack a will (caring.com)
  17. 17Trust & Will, 2026 report: reasons for no estate plan (trustandwill.com)
  18. 18Caring.com, Race and Gender Disparities in Estate Planning 2025 (caring.com)
  19. 19Urban Institute, Barriers to Estate Planning and the Racial Wealth Gap (urban.org)
  20. 20AARP, How to Write a Will (aarp.org)
  21. 21Colorado Revised Statutes 15-11-102, Share of spouse (Justia) (law.justia.com)
  22. 22Colorado Revised Statutes Title 15, Article 11, Intestate Succession (Justia) (law.justia.com)
Max Kuch

About the author

Max Kuch

Max Kuch writes about estate planning, wills and inheritance for Online Will Colorado. He gathers the numbers from official Colorado and US public data, then explains what they mean for anyone thinking about putting their wishes in writing.

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, when you finish it correctly. Colorado recognizes the holographic will under C.R.S. Sec. 15-11-502(2). Such a will is valid if the signature and the material portions are in the testator's own handwriting, and no witnesses are required. Our service builds your draft to reflect Colorado succession law, but the document only becomes a valid holographic will once you copy the material portions in your own hand and sign it yourself. A printout that you merely sign does not qualify.

Because that is exactly what Colorado law demands for this route. Under C.R.S. Sec. 15-11-502(2), a holographic will skips the usual witness requirement only if the signature and the material portions are in your own handwriting. A typed or printed page, even with your signature, would not meet that test and could be rejected in probate. We give you a clean, finished draft so the handwriting step is simple: you copy the wording onto paper in your own hand and sign it.

Your children, generally yes. Colorado has no forced heirship, so you are free to decide who inherits and you may leave an adult child out (be clear and specific to reduce disputes). Your spouse is different. Under the elective share rules in C.R.S. Sec. 15-11-201 and following, a surviving spouse who is disinherited can claim a statutory share of the augmented estate, and the percentage grows with the length of the marriage. You cannot fully cut out a spouse against their will, so plan realistically around that right.

Somewhere safe, dry, and findable by the person who will handle your estate. Many people use a home fireproof box or a bank safe deposit box and tell their personal representative where it is. Colorado also lets you deposit your will with the clerk of the district court for safekeeping during your lifetime under C.R.S. Sec. 15-11-515. There is no separate central will registry in the state, so what matters most is that the original can actually be located after your death.

We do not recommend it. A single joint document shared by two people creates problems for a holographic will, because each testator's material portions and signature must be in that person's own handwriting, and a joint will can tie the survivor's hands later. The cleaner approach is two separate mirror wills: each spouse handwrites and signs their own document, with matching terms. Our service walks each of you through your own will so both are individually valid.

Yes, and it is easy to do. In Colorado you can revoke or replace a will at any time while you have capacity. The simplest, safest method is to write a brand new holographic will that is fully in your own handwriting and signed by you, stating that it revokes all prior wills. Avoid crossing out lines or writing notes in the margins of an existing will, since messy edits invite challenges. When life changes (marriage, divorce, a new child, a move), make a fresh will.

No, and we are upfront about that. Our service helps you produce a solid, Colorado-specific draft to copy out by hand, which suits many straightforward estates. It is not legal advice and it does not replace an attorney. If your situation is complex (blended families, business interests, sizable or out-of-state assets, trusts, or possible disputes over the spousal elective share), talk to a Colorado estate planning lawyer before you rely on a handwritten will.

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