Colorado Intestate Succession Calculator

What is intestate succession in Colorado?

When someone dies without a valid will, they die intestate. Colorado law then decides who inherits, following the Colorado Probate Code (the state's version of the Uniform Probate Code). The key rules are in C.R.S. 15-11-102 (the surviving spouse's share) and C.R.S. 15-11-103 (everyone else). These rules apply only to assets that pass through probate by intestacy, not to property with a beneficiary designation or joint owner.

The surviving spouse's share and the dollar thresholds

Under C.R.S. 15-11-102, how much a surviving spouse inherits depends on who else survives. Colorado adjusts these dollar amounts for inflation every year, so the figures below are the amounts that apply to deaths in 2025.

• No descendants and no parent survive: the spouse inherits the entire estate.
• No descendants, but a parent survives: the spouse inherits the first $431,000 plus three-quarters of the balance, and the rest goes to the parents.
• All the decedent's children are also the spouse's, and the spouse has no other children: the spouse inherits the entire estate.
• All the decedent's children are also the spouse's, but the spouse has other children who are not the decedent's: the spouse inherits the first $323,000 plus one-half of the balance.
• One or more of the decedent's children are not the spouse's: the spouse inherits the first $215,000 plus one-half of the balance.

Blended families

Colorado treats blended families differently on purpose. If either the decedent or the surviving spouse has children from another relationship, the spouse no longer takes everything. Instead the spouse receives a set dollar amount plus a share of the balance, and the decedent's children receive the rest. This protects children from a prior relationship, but it can also split an estate in ways the family did not expect. A will lets you set your own split.

No spouse or no children

If there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes under C.R.S. 15-11-103. It goes first to the decedent's descendants, divided equally by representation (per capita at each generation). If there are no descendants, it passes to the decedent's parents. If no parent survives, it passes to the descendants of the parents, meaning the decedent's siblings and their children. The law continues to more distant relatives only if none of these survive.

Learn more

• Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (official, leg.colorado.gov)
• Guides and articles on Colorado wills and estates