Letter to a bank or other holder in Colorado

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)

This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit (JDF 999)

A sworn statement you give to a bank, company or person holding the property, so they pay or deliver it to you. It is not filed with the court.

Limit

Up to $88,000 (deaths from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of deathLimit
January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026
$88,000
January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
$86,000
January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024
$82,000
January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
$80,000
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022
$74,000
January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2021
$70,000

The limit depends on the year of death: $88,000 for 2026, $86,000 for 2025, $82,000 for 2024, $80,000 for 2023, $74,000 for 2022, and $70,000 for 2020 and 2021. The limit is twice the exempt property amount, which is adjusted for the cost of living.

What counts

The fair market value of everything the person owned that passes by will or by state inheritance law, wherever it is (including real estate), minus liens and encumbrances. Property that passes another way, such as joint, pay-on-death or beneficiary property, is left out.

Waiting period

At least 10 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

Any successor (a person, other than a creditor, who inherits under the will or under state law), or a person acting for one or more successors. The person signing must be 18 or older. A person who collects for other successors has the legal duties of an agent to them.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it to the person or company holding the property.

Notary

Sign the affidavit before a notary. Each holder keeps a copy, so you may want several notarized copies.

Papers to attach
  • Copy of the death certificate (some holders ask for a certified copy)
  • A copy of the court's instructions (JDF 998), if you want to show the holder the legal authority
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 10 days after the death.
  2. Check that no one has applied to be personal representative in any state.
  3. Fill in JDF 999 and list each successor and what each is entitled to.
  4. Sign it before a notary.
  5. Give the affidavit and a death certificate to the bank or other holder.
  6. Give each successor their share of what you collect.
Fee

No filing fee, because the affidavit is not filed with the court (JDF 998).

Debts and responsibility

Anyone who receives property under the affidavit must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later or to anyone with a better right to the estate.

What the bank or holder must do

On the affidavit, the holder must pay or deliver the property; a transfer agent must re-register securities; a public official must change registered title. The holder is released from liability as if it dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check the truth of the affidavit. If the holder refuses, the people entitled can go to court; if they prove their right and the refusal was without reasonable cause, the holder pays all their costs, including reasonable attorney fees.

Law: C.R.S. 15-12-1201, 15-12-1202, 15-11-403, 15-10-112

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in Colorado

When one owner of a joint account dies, the money belongs to the surviving owner. In a pay-on-death account, the money belongs to the named beneficiary after the owner dies. An account in the person's name alone is part of the estate: after 10 days, a successor can collect it, including the contents of a safe deposit box, with the small estate affidavit if the estate is under the limit.

Law: C.R.S. 15-15-212, 15-12-1201(1), (3.7)

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Colorado

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: C.R.S. 15-15-212

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Colorado

A request must include a photocopy of your ID. Extra copies of the same record ordered at the same time are $13 each.

Where to get it
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Vital Records Section
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Colorado

Colorado has no separate small estate procedure for a spouse. In a probate case, the surviving spouse (or, if none, dependent children) is entitled to exempt property (a base of $30,000, adjusted for the cost of living) and a family allowance. Property the spouse receives as a joint owner or named beneficiary passes outside the estate.

Law: C.R.S. 15-11-403, 15-11-404

Who inherits with no will in Colorado

If there is no will, the surviving spouse gets everything if the person left no children or parents, or if all the person's children are also the spouse's children and the spouse has no other children. In other cases the spouse gets a set dollar amount (adjusted for the cost of living) plus a share of the rest. Anything not going to the spouse goes to the children (or their descendants), then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents' families. A designated beneficiary under a designated beneficiary agreement can also inherit.

Law: C.R.S. 15-11-101 to 15-11-103, 15-11-102.5

Source: Official page

Good to know in Colorado

  • Colorado's limit counts real estate and property anywhere that passes by will or inheritance, even though the affidavit cannot transfer real estate (C.R.S. 15-12-1201(1)(a); JDF 999).
  • The waiting period is only 10 days after the death.
  • A holder that refuses a proper affidavit without reasonable cause can have to pay the successors' costs and attorney fees.

Changes in 2024–2026

The limit is adjusted each year for the cost of living: $82,000 for 2024 deaths, $86,000 for 2025 deaths and $88,000 for 2026 deaths (JDF 999 R: April 28, 2026; DMV DR 2712 (04/30/26)).

Related pages

Free help in Colorado

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.