Le texte intégral de ce guide est en anglais ; le résumé ci-dessus est dans votre langue. Les résumés des lois et l'anglais restent la source de référence.
Vérifié par rapport aux Colorado Statutes le 2026-10-07. Information générale, pas un avis juridique ; le texte officiel fait foi.
- Colorado Uniform Trust Code
- Article 5 of Title 15 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S. §§15-5-101 and following), Colorado's enactment of the Uniform Trust Code, in force since January 1, 2019. It governs a trust's creation, administration and the trustee's duties, subject to the trust's own terms except where the code says the terms cannot override it (C.R.S. §15-5-105).
- District court (Denver Probate Court)
- The court that hears proceedings concerning a trust's administration: the district court of the county, and in the City and County of Denver the probate court (C.R.S. §15-5-203). A trust is not under continuing court supervision unless the court orders it (C.R.S. §15-5-201).
- Settlor
- The person who creates a trust or contributes property to it. While a trust is revocable, the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to the settlor, and the trustee may follow the settlor's direction even if it departs from the terms (C.R.S. §15-5-603).
- Trustee
- The person who holds and administers the trust property. On accepting, a trustee administers the trust in good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries (C.R.S. §15-5-801). Guide: Devoirs du trustee successeur au Colorado après un décès
- Successor trustee
- The trustee who takes over when the original trustee dies, resigns, is removed or can no longer serve. A named successor becomes trustee by accepting — by the trust's method, or by accepting the property or acting as trustee (C.R.S. §15-5-701). Guide: Trustee successeur au Colorado : accepter le rôle
- Acceptance of the trusteeship
- How a designated trustee becomes trustee: by substantially complying with the trust's method of acceptance or, where it has none or its method is not exclusive, by accepting the property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee; not accepting within a reasonable time is a rejection (C.R.S. §15-5-701). The acceptance date starts the 60-day acceptance notice (C.R.S. §15-5-813(2)(b)).
- Beneficiary
- A person who has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent, or who holds a power of appointment over trust property in a capacity other than trustee (C.R.S. §15-5-103).
- Qualified beneficiary
- A beneficiary who, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is determined, is a distributee or permissible distributee of income or principal, would be one if those interests ended that day, or would be one if the trust ended that day (C.R.S. §15-5-103(16)). The trustee's notices and reports go to the qualified beneficiaries; a trust's terms cannot remove the notices for current distributees at any age or for other qualified beneficiaries who are 25 or older (C.R.S. §15-5-105(2)(h)).
- Revocable trust
- A trust the settlor can revoke without anyone else's consent. While it is revocable, the beneficiaries' rights are subject to the settlor's control (C.R.S. §15-5-603); at the settlor's death it becomes irrevocable. Guide: Le trust révocable entre vifs du Colorado, expliqué
- Irrevocable trust
- A trust that can no longer be revoked — by its terms or because the settlor has died. Within 60 days after the trustee learns a trust has become irrevocable, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries (C.R.S. §15-5-813(2)(c)). Guide: Le trust irrévocable du Colorado, expliqué
- Acceptance notice
- The notice a trustee gives the qualified beneficiaries within 60 days after accepting the trusteeship: the acceptance, and the trustee's name, address and telephone number (C.R.S. §15-5-813(2)(b)). It does not apply to a trustee who accepted before January 1, 2019 (C.R.S. §15-5-813(5)).
- Irrevocability notice
- The notice a trustee gives the qualified beneficiaries within 60 days after learning a trust has become irrevocable: the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, and the rights to request the portions of the instrument that describe or affect the beneficiary's interest and to a trustee's report (C.R.S. §15-5-813(2)(c)). It does not apply to a trust that became irrevocable before January 1, 2019 (C.R.S. §15-5-813(5)).
- Trustee's report
- The report a trustee sends at least annually and at the trust's termination: the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, and a listing of the assets with market values where feasible (C.R.S. §15-5-813(3)). A qualified beneficiary may waive reports and withdraw the waiver for the future (C.R.S. §15-5-813(4)). Guide: Exigences de comptabilité des trusts au Colorado
- Registration of a trust
- An optional filing of a trust registration statement with the court at the trust's principal place of administration, after the trustee accepts (C.R.S. §15-5-205); within 60 days after filing, the trustee notifies the cotrustees, the qualified beneficiaries and others with authority under the trust (C.R.S. §15-5-206). A trustee who does not register within 30 days after a settlor's or qualified beneficiary's written demand may be subject to removal or surcharge (C.R.S. §15-5-207).
- Principal place of administration
- Where a trust is administered. Terms designating it control where a trustee is resident or administration occurs there; a trustee may transfer it after at least 60 days' notice to the qualified beneficiaries, and a timely objection ends the authority to transfer under the section (C.R.S. §15-5-108).
- Certification of trust
- A statement a trustee may give a person other than a beneficiary instead of the trust instrument: the trust's existence and date, the settlor, the acting trustee's identity and address, the trustee's powers in the pending transaction, revocability and who may revoke, how cotrustees sign, and the name in which title may be taken. A person who relies on it in good faith is protected (C.R.S. §15-5-1013).
- Duty of loyalty
- A trustee administers the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries; a transaction affected by a conflict between the trustee's personal and fiduciary interests is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless an exception in the statute applies (C.R.S. §15-5-802). Guide: Devoirs du trustee successeur au Colorado après un décès
- Prudent administration
- A trustee administers the trust as a prudent person would, considering its purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances, with reasonable care, skill and caution (C.R.S. §15-5-804).
- Prudent investor rule
- The investment standard of the Colorado Uniform Prudent Investor Act; within a reasonable time after accepting the trusteeship or receiving trust assets, a trustee reviews them and decides what to keep or dispose of to bring the portfolio into compliance (C.R.S. §15-1.1-104).
- Impartiality
- Where a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee acts impartially in investing, managing and distributing the trust property, taking into account their differing interests (C.R.S. §15-5-803).
- Delegation
- A trustee may delegate duties and powers a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate, using reasonable care in selecting and monitoring the agent (C.R.S. §15-5-807).
- Cotrustees
- Two or more trustees serving together. Unable to agree unanimously, they may act by majority; each participates unless unavailable or properly delegated, and each uses reasonable care to prevent a cotrustee's serious breach of trust (C.R.S. §15-5-703).
- Trustee compensation
- Where the trust's terms do not set it, a trustee's compensation is reasonable compensation under the Colorado Probate Code (C.R.S. §15-5-708), weighed by the factors a court considers (C.R.S. §15-10-603); Colorado has no fee schedule. A trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries in advance of a change in the method or rate (C.R.S. §15-5-813(2)(d)). Guide: Rémunération du trustee au Colorado (C.R.S. §15-5-708)
- Spendthrift provision
- A term restraining both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest; a beneficiary's creditor cannot reach the interest or a distribution before the beneficiary receives it, with the exceptions the statute lists (C.R.S. §§15-5-502, 15-5-503).
- Discretionary trust
- A trust whose distributions are in the trustee's discretion. A beneficiary's creditor cannot compel a discretionary distribution, even under a standard or for an abuse of discretion, with the statute's child-support exception (C.R.S. §15-5-504).
- Trust director
- A person other than the trustee to whom a trust's terms grant a power of direction — over investments or distributions, for example — under the Colorado Uniform Directed Trust Act (C.R.S. §§15-16-801, 15-16-806).
- Directed trustee
- A trustee bound to follow a trust director's exercise of a power of direction; the trustee is not liable for complying except where compliance would be willful misconduct (C.R.S. §15-16-809), and has no duty to monitor the director unless the terms say otherwise (C.R.S. §15-16-811).
- Decanting
- An authorized fiduciary's exercise of a power to distribute property from one trust to a second trust, under the Colorado Uniform Trust Decanting Act; notice goes out not later than 63 days before the exercise, with copies of both instruments (C.R.S. §15-16-907).
- Nonjudicial settlement agreement
- A binding agreement on any matter involving a trust, valid to the extent it does not violate a material purpose of the trust and contains terms a court could properly approve (C.R.S. §15-5-111).
- Contest period
- The time to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death: the earlier of three years after the death or 120 days after the trustee sent the person a copy of the instrument and a notice with the statute's contents — an absolute bar (C.R.S. §15-5-604).
- Limitation period (breach of trust)
- A beneficiary may not begin a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after being sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim and the time allowed; otherwise three years after the first of the trustee's removal or resignation, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the trust's termination (C.R.S. §15-5-1005).
- Proposal for distribution
- On termination, a trustee may send the beneficiaries a proposal; a beneficiary's right to object ends 30 days after it was sent if it stated the right and the time (C.R.S. §15-5-817). Guide: Clôture d'un trust au Colorado : les étapes finales du trustee
- Per capita at each generation
- Colorado's division of an intestate estate among descendants (C.R.S. §15-11-106), and the meaning of the words in an instrument (C.R.S. §15-11-709(2)): divide at the nearest generation with a survivor; the deceased members' shares are combined and divided equally among the next generation. Guide: Calculateur per stirpes pour trustees du Colorado
- Per stirpes
- In a Colorado governing instrument, a division that begins at the designated ancestor's children, each deceased child's share passing to that child's descendants and subdividing at each generation (C.R.S. §15-11-709(3)). Guide: Calculateur per stirpes pour trustees du Colorado
- By representation
- In a Colorado governing instrument, unless it provides otherwise, a division that begins at the nearest generation with a survivor, each deceased member's share passing to that member's descendants in the same manner (C.R.S. §15-11-709(5)).
- Homestead exemption
- Colorado exempts a homestead occupied as a home from execution and attachment up to $250,000, or $350,000 where an owner, spouse or dependent living there is 60 or older or disabled (C.R.S. §38-41-201); a surviving spouse or minor children are entitled to the exemption (C.R.S. §38-41-204). Colorado places no restriction on devising a home.
- Small-estate affidavit
- A way to collect a decedent's personal property without probate, at any time ten or more days after the death, where the estate subject to will or intestacy does not exceed the statute's adjusted amount (C.R.S. §15-12-1201). Guide: L'homologation au Colorado, expliquée
- Notice to creditors
- The personal representative's published notice in a probate estate — not less than three times, once in each of three successive calendar weeks — after which claims are barred unless presented in time (C.R.S. §§15-12-801, 15-12-803). A revocable trust's property answers for the estate's claims to the extent the probate estate is insufficient (C.R.S. §15-15-103).
- Lodging a will
- The custodian of a will delivers it, within ten days after the testator's death or as soon after as the custodian learns of it, to the court with probate jurisdiction where the decedent resided or was domiciled (C.R.S. §15-11-516).
- Medical durable power of attorney
- A document in which an adult names an agent to consent to or refuse medical treatment on the adult's behalf, with any directions or limits (C.R.S. §15-14-506). Guide: Procurations et directives anticipées au Colorado
- Declaration as to medical treatment (living will)
- A declaration an adult with decisional capacity may sign directing that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn if the adult later has a terminal condition or is in a persistent vegetative state and lacks capacity (C.R.S. §15-18-104). Guide: Procurations et directives anticipées au Colorado
Information générale sur le droit du Colorado, pas un avis juridique.