The Colorado Home After a Death

What “homestead” means in Colorado

In Colorado “homestead” is a creditor exemption, not an inheritance rule: a home occupied by the owner or the owner's family is exempt from execution and attachment up to $250,000 of equity — $350,000 where an owner, spouse or dependent who lives there is 60 or older or disabled (C.R.S. §38-41-201) — and after the owner's death the exemption belongs to a surviving spouse or minor children (§38-41-204). Who inherits the home is decided by the will, the trust, the deed or intestacy.

Who gets the home

In Colorado the home passes like the decedent's other property — under the will or the trust, or by intestacy (C.R.S. §15-11-102) — and a surviving spouse or minor children are entitled to the homestead exemption from creditors (C.R.S. §38-41-204):

• With a will or a trust that disposes of the home, it passes as the instrument says — subject to a surviving spouse's elective share, measured on an augmented estate that includes property passing outside probate (C.R.S. §§15-11-202, 15-11-205).
• Without one, the home passes by intestacy with the rest of the estate — to the surviving spouse alone in many families, otherwise in the shares the statute sets (C.R.S. §15-11-102).
• A home held in joint tenancy passes to the surviving joint tenant, and a home with a beneficiary deed recorded during life passes to the named grantee-beneficiary — both outside the will (C.R.S. §§38-31-101, 15-15-402).

Can the home be left by will or by trust? Yes

Colorado places no restriction on devising a home: the owner may leave it by will or by trust to anyone, subject to a surviving spouse's right of election (C.R.S. §15-11-202).

Creditors and the home after a death

When an owner dies leaving a surviving spouse or minor children, they are entitled to the homestead exemption; with neither surviving, the home is liable for the decedent's debts (C.R.S. §38-41-204). The exemption creates no allowance of its own (C.R.S. §15-11-402), and liens and encumbrances on the home still apply. Whether a particular family and property are protected is fact-specific attorney territory.

Property taxes

Property-tax exemptions turn on who owns and occupies the home after the death. The county assessor's office and a Colorado attorney can confirm what continues and what a surviving spouse or heir applies for in their own right.

What should happen next?

Outcomes turn on facts: who survived, how the deed reads, whether minors are involved, and a spouse's elective-share petition, filed within nine months after the death or six months after probate of the will, whichever is later (C.R.S. §15-11-211). This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check shows you where you stand, and a Colorado attorney can confirm how the home passes in your situation.

General information about Colorado law, not legal advice.