SOMEBODY DIED · COMPLETE GUIDE 01
Selling a house in probate in Colorado
Authority before price.
Confirm the person with legal authority before promising work, removing property, or discussing a listing.Most of this job is not showing houses. It is the contract, the calendar, the negotiation, and staying steady while the money is decided.
“His honesty and guidance was very much valued in helping me determine major decisions throughout the process.”
WHAT THIS GUIDE DOES
Know what must be protected now, who can authorize work, and what can wait.
- 01AUTHORITY
Who can sign?
Read the court appointment, title, and estate instructions before the real-estate plan.
- 02PROPERTY
What is exposed?
Document condition, occupancy, utilities, insurance, mail, keys, and anything actively causing damage.
- 03MONEY
What keeps running?
Track loan payments, taxes, HOA charges, utilities, insurance, and required maintenance.
- 04PATH
Hold, prepare, or sell?
Choose only after authority, carrying cost, condition, and family timing are visible together.
Informal probate and formal probate are not the same step.
Look at the deed first. A house held in joint tenancy with a surviving owner, or titled with a beneficiary deed, may not go through probate at all (VERIFIED, Colorado Courts JDF 907, revised June 8, 2026). Ask the estate attorney and the title company which path this house is on.
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When the house does go through the estate, Colorado opens it two ways. Informal probate is the shorter one. The court does not review the request before it issues Letters (VERIFIED, Colorado Judicial, Open an Estate). Formal probate is the court proceeding. A will, or an order in that formal case, can limit the sale (VERIFIED, C.R.S. 15-12-715). Counsel names which one this estate is in before anyone signs a listing.
A small estate affidavit does not give authority to sell the house.
A small estate affidavit, JDF 999, collects cash, cars, and belongings. It does not transfer a house (VERIFIED, C.R.S. 15-12-1201). Colorado Judicial says to use it only when no real estate has to change hands (VERIFIED).
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The authority to sell arrives with the court's Letters, JDF 915. After those Letters issue, the personal representative can list, sign a contract, and close while the estate is still open (VERIFIED, C.R.S. 15-12-711). Informal probate cannot start until five days after the death (VERIFIED, C.R.S. 15-12-303 and 15-12-308). A power of attorney ended at death (VERIFIED, C.R.S. 15-14-710). Nobody lists the house on it.
The house keeps charging while the papers catch up.
The loan, the taxes, the HOA, the utilities, and the insurance keep running whether anyone lives there. Most standard policies limit cover for vandalism, glass, and sometimes water and theft after 60 vacant days (PROBABLE; your carrier's definition is the one that counts). Call the carrier before the house sits empty.
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The Denver metro's median listing left the market in 57 days in August 2026 (VERIFIED, FRED MEDAONMAMSA19740). A probate sale adds the estate's own steps on top of that. A purchase by the personal representative, or by a relative, needs the estate attorney before anyone treats it as agreed. Colorado licenses brokers. It does not license a probate specialist (VERIFIED, Division of Real Estate license lookup). Send the address in the box at the top. Add the date of death, whether a will exists, and whether anyone is living there.
THE ACTUAL HANDOUT
PROBATE · original field guide
The real first page is visible below. Open the complete handout or original PDF for every page.
PROBATE · ASKED FIRST
The questions that come before price.
- Can a house be sold during probate in Colorado?
- Yes, once the personal representative has authority to sell. That authority arrives with the court's Letters. Informal probate is the shorter opening, and it cannot start until five days after the death. Formal probate is the court proceeding, and an order there can limit the sale. A small estate affidavit collects personal property only and does not transfer the house. Have the estate attorney and the title company confirm the Letters, and any limit in the will, before anyone signs.
- What is the first thing to do with a Colorado house after someone dies?
- Confirm the person with legal authority before anyone promises work, removes property, or discusses a listing. Read the court appointment, the title, and the estate instructions before the real estate plan. Secure access, keep the utilities on, and name the authorized person first; then choose hold, repair, or sell. The first question is not price.
- What has to be protected right away in a probate house?
- Secure access and valuables, keep heat, water, power, and insurance active, and identify the authorized decision-maker. Document condition, occupancy, utilities, insurance, mail, keys, and anything actively causing damage. The urgent job is to stop avoidable carrying-cost damage while the estate sorts out who can decide; the longer-term choices come after that.
- What keeps costing money while the estate is open?
- Loan payments, property taxes, HOA charges, utilities, insurance, and required maintenance keep running whether or not anyone lives in the house. Track each one from the start, including any mortgage or reverse-mortgage statement, so the carrying cost is visible before the family chooses to hold, prepare, or sell.
- Should the estate hold, prepare, or sell the house?
- Choose only after authority, carrying cost, condition, and family timing are visible together. Robert can read the house, the carrying cost, and the sale process. Probate authority, inheritance, and tax questions belong with the estate attorney and CPA, and nobody should quote a list price before that file is complete.
WHERE ROBERT STOPS
Robert can read the house, carrying cost, and sale process. Probate authority, inheritance, and tax questions belong with the estate attorney and CPA.
THE RECORD, PUBLICLY CHECKABLE