Fort Collins Estate Planning Attorneys

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and probate. Protect your family with a local Fort Collins estate planning attorney.

Request a Consultation Call 970-482-9770
40+
Years in Northern Colorado
1981
Serving Larimer County Since
3
Local Attorneys
Local
Old Town Fort Collins Office

Almost nobody puts off estate planning because they do not understand why it matters. They put it off because it feels like a large, vague project with no obvious starting point. In practice it is a short list of concrete decisions: who receives what, who is in charge, and who speaks for you if you cannot speak for yourself. Most families can answer all three in a single meeting.

Our attorneys have guided Northern Colorado families through estate planning, probate, guardianship, and conservatorship since 1981. Our office is at 110 E Oak Street in Old Town Fort Collins, a short walk from the Larimer County Justice Center at 201 La Porte Avenue, where probate matters are filed.

Estate Planning & Probate Services

Last Will & Testament

Direct how your assets are distributed and nominate guardians for minor children.

Revocable Living Trusts

Keep assets out of probate, maintain privacy, and plan ahead for incapacity.

Medical & Financial Powers of Attorney

Name the people who can act for you if you become unable to act for yourself.

Advance Directives

Living wills and healthcare directives that record your end-of-life wishes.

Probate Administration

Guiding personal representatives through the Colorado probate process step by step.

Conservatorship

Court-appointed management of finances for an incapacitated adult or a minor.

Guardianship

Personal and healthcare decision-making for minors or incapacitated adults.

Intestate Estates

What happens, and what you can do, when a loved one dies without a will in Colorado.

The Four Documents Most Colorado Families Need

People arrive asking for a will. A will is only one of four documents, and it is the only one that does nothing until you die. The other three are the ones your family will reach for first.

A will

Directs who receives your property, names the personal representative who will administer your estate, and nominates a guardian for any minor children. Without one, Colorado's intestate succession rules make those choices instead.

A durable financial power of attorney

Authorizes someone you trust to pay bills, manage accounts, and deal with property if you cannot. This single document is what most often keeps a family out of a conservatorship proceeding after a stroke or a dementia diagnosis.

A medical power of attorney

Names your healthcare decision-maker. Without it, providers and family members can be left guessing, and disagreements among adult children about a parent's care become far harder to resolve.

An advance directive

Often called a living will. It records what you want and do not want in terms of life-sustaining treatment, so that the person holding your medical power of attorney is carrying out your instructions rather than shouldering the decision alone.

How Probate Actually Works in Larimer County

If you have been named personal representative, or a parent has just died and nobody knows what to do next, here is the practical sequence. Colorado probate is generally handled through the district court, and most estates here proceed informally, which means far less court supervision than people expect.

1. Find the will and take stock

Locate the original will if there is one, then list what the decedent actually owned and how each asset was titled. Accounts with named beneficiaries, joint tenancy property, and trust assets generally pass outside probate. What remains determines whether a probate case is needed at all.

2. Decide which procedure applies

A small estate with no real property may be handled by affidavit without opening a case. Most others proceed informally. A formal proceeding is reserved for situations involving a contested or unclear will, a disputed heir, or a fight over who should serve. Read our overview of Colorado probate.

3. Open the estate and get appointed

The application is filed with the Larimer County District Court. Once appointed, the personal representative receives letters, which are the document banks and title companies will ask to see before anyone will talk to you about the decedent's assets.

4. Notice, inventory, and creditors

The personal representative gives notice to heirs and devisees, prepares an inventory of estate assets, and provides notice to creditors. Colorado allows a claim period during which creditors can come forward, so an estate generally stays open for a matter of months rather than weeks.

5. Pay what is owed

Valid debts, final expenses, and any taxes are paid from estate assets in the order Colorado law requires. A personal representative who distributes to beneficiaries before this is done can end up personally exposed, which is the single most common and most avoidable mistake in probate.

6. Distribute and close

Remaining assets are distributed under the will, or under the intestacy statutes if there is no will, and the estate is closed. Deeds, account transfers, and beneficiary accountings all happen at this stage.

Why Estate Planning Matters in Colorado

  • ✓ Avoid Colorado intestate succession, which often does not match what people assume
  • ✓ Reduce or eliminate the assets that have to pass through probate court
  • ✓ Protect children from a prior relationship in a blended family
  • ✓ Plan for incapacity, not only for death
  • ✓ Choose your own decision-makers instead of leaving it to a judge
  • ✓ Spare your family the guesswork that turns grief into conflict

Where a family member has already lost capacity and no powers of attorney exist, the remaining path is usually a court proceeding. We handle those too. See our page on guardianship and conservatorship in Fort Collins, or read about when guardianship is needed and who can serve as a guardian.

When an Existing Plan Needs Updating

An estate plan is not a document you sign once and file away for thirty years. It reflects the family, the assets, and the law as they stood on the day it was drafted. Certain events should prompt a review: a marriage or a divorce, the birth or adoption of a child, the death or incapacity of someone you named as personal representative, guardian, or agent, buying or selling real estate, a significant change in the size of your estate, or a move to Colorado from another state.

Two problems come up again and again. The first is a beneficiary designation that was never updated, most often on a retirement account or a life insurance policy naming a former spouse. Those designations generally control regardless of what your will says. The second is a trust that was signed but never funded, so the assets it was meant to hold are still titled in your own name and pass through probate anyway. Both are quick to check and inexpensive to fix, and both are far cheaper to correct now than to litigate later.

Meet Your Attorneys

Gail B. Goodman

Probate, guardianship, and conservatorship matters for Northern Colorado families.

Michael D. Liggett

Practicing and mediating in Northern Colorado for over four decades.

Sarah E. Liggett

Family law and criminal defense for Larimer County clients.

Estate Planning Questions We Hear Most

Do I need a trust, or is a will enough?
For many Northern Colorado families, a well-drafted will together with powers of attorney and an advance directive is genuinely enough. A revocable living trust starts to earn its extra cost when you want to keep assets out of probate, own real estate in more than one state, want privacy about what you owned and who received it, have a blended family, or want to control the timing of distributions to a young or vulnerable beneficiary. A trust that is never funded accomplishes nothing, and that is the most common failure we see. We will tell you honestly which one your situation calls for.
Does everything have to go through probate in Colorado?
No. Assets that pass by beneficiary designation, such as retirement accounts and life insurance, and assets held in joint tenancy or inside a properly funded trust, generally pass outside probate. What is left, particularly real estate titled in the decedent's name alone, typically runs through the district court. Colorado also offers a simplified small estate affidavit procedure for modest estates that include no real property. Colorado probate is generally less burdensome than its reputation suggests, but it still involves court filings, notice to interested parties, and deadlines the personal representative has to meet.
Does Colorado have an estate tax?
Colorado currently has no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax. The federal estate tax applies only to estates above the federal exemption amount, which is high and changes over time, so it affects a small minority of families. Tax, though, is rarely the real reason to plan. Most of the value in a good estate plan comes from naming the right decision-makers, avoiding a court-appointed conservatorship if you become incapacitated, keeping assets out of probate where that makes sense, and preventing the disputes that arise when a family is left to guess what you wanted.
What happens if I die without a will in Colorado?
Colorado's intestate succession statutes decide for you, and the result frequently surprises people. A surviving spouse does not automatically inherit everything, particularly where there are children from a prior relationship. The court, rather than you, appoints the personal representative, and it appoints a guardian for minor children based on what it can learn rather than what you would have chosen. The estate still goes through the same probate process. Dying without a will does not spare your family from court. It simply removes your voice from the outcome.
What documents does a basic Colorado estate plan include?
A standard plan for most families has four parts. A will directs who receives your property and nominates a guardian for minor children. A durable financial power of attorney lets someone you choose manage money and property if you cannot. A medical power of attorney names who makes healthcare decisions on your behalf. An advance directive, often called a living will, records your wishes about end-of-life care. The last three matter while you are still alive, and they are the documents families most often wish they had on the day a parent is hospitalized.
What is the difference between guardianship and conservatorship?
They solve different problems, and a person may need one, both, or neither. A guardian is appointed to make personal and healthcare decisions for a minor or an incapacitated adult. A conservator is appointed to manage that person's money and property. Both are court proceedings with ongoing reporting obligations, and both are more intrusive, slower, and more expensive than the alternatives. Signing durable powers of attorney while you still have capacity is the most reliable way to keep your family from ever needing to file either one.

Talk to a Fort Collins Estate Planning Attorney

Tell us briefly what you need -- a first plan, an update, or help administering an estate. Everything you share with us is confidential.

Prefer to talk now? Call 970-482-9770

Plan Now, Not Later

Serving Fort Collins, Loveland, Windsor, Greeley, and all of Larimer County.

Schedule a Consultation Call 970-482-9770

Trusted by Northern Colorado Families Since 1981

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