Estate Planning for Colorado Homeowners: Wills, Trusts and Probate Explained | Ep 15

I mean, we kind of already touched on this in terms of probate, but what happens if somebody dies without an estate plan in Colorado? And what surprises most people about going through that process of probate for their family members that have

passed? I think the thing that surprises people the most is how much work it is and how many steps there are.

And There's, for example, a mandatory four-month notice to creditors period where we're just kind of waiting to see if any creditor claims come in.

And that's like in the newspaper? Yes, that's what you'll see in the very, very back of the mail.

Yes, no one probably reads them, but every once in a while we do get a claim.

on an estate.

But we kind of just have to wait and twiddle our thumbs and see what rolls in, if anything.

So I think there are a lot of things that can come up, just a million speed bumps that can come your way during probate, and it surprises people how many steps and how long it can take.

And I would think that when you've lost a loved one and you're very sad, most likely, The last thing you want to do is go to court and deal with all of this and lawyers and this whole sort of mess that you have to untangle.

Yes, most people do not want to add paperwork on top of grief.

And oftentimes people list things.

their closest loved ones as their personal representatives in their will.

So, it is kind of a heavy burden for a lot of people or, you know, a grieving spouse or child to take on.

So, again, just to vote for avoiding probate and giving yourself a little breathing room and going through the simpler version of the trust.

But to answer your question about what happens if someone doesn't have an estate plan.

So no trust, no will, no beneficiary deed, no beneficiary destinations, just absolutely nothing in place.

There is a Colorado statute that says... how your assets will be distributed.

And that just depends on who you have in your family tree still living.

So a spouse, children, parents, siblings, things like that.

And it'll just be distributed accordingly and will, if it's over $88,000 or has real property in it, be subject to probate.

And that might not be exactly how you want it distributed.

So it can be helpful to have those things in place.

Sure.

And I think there's also blended families that come into play.

And if you don't have it set up so that your children are getting some of the estate, if you have children and you're remarried or something like that doesn't that come into play and then the way that the statute would normally divvy it up isn't necessarily how it would go