Colorado Living Trusts: How Revocable Trusts Work
Trusts in Colorado are governed by the Colorado Uniform Trust Code (Title 15, Article 5; C.R.S. § 15-5-101). A funded revocable living trust lets your assets pass outside probate while you keep control during life — but only assets actually retitled into the trust avoid probate.
By Find Local Law Editorial Team · Last reviewed: May 26, 2026
Researched and drafted with AI assistance and verified against primary sources (statutes, Judicial Council forms, and official court websites). This is general information, not legal advice.
This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a Colorado attorney about how these rules apply to your situation.
A revocable living trust is a legal arrangement you create during your life to hold your property. You can typically serve as your own trustee, keep full control, and change or revoke the trust whenever you like.
The law behind Colorado trusts
Trusts in Colorado are governed by the Colorado Uniform Trust Code, found at Title 15, Article 5 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S. § 15-5-101 and following). It sets the default rules for how trusts are created, administered, and ended.
Passing assets outside probate
The main draw is that a funded revocable living trust lets your assets pass outside probate at your death. Instead of going through court, the successor trustee distributes the trust property according to its terms.
The word “funded” is doing a lot of work here. A trust only controls the property you actually retitle into it — your home, accounts, and other assets re-registered in the trust’s name. Anything left in your individual name may still go through probate.
What a trust doesn’t do
A revocable living trust generally does not save Colorado estate tax (Colorado has none) and doesn’t shield assets from your own creditors during life. It’s primarily a probate-avoidance and management tool. Many plans pair a trust with a “pour-over” will as a backstop.
For other probate-avoidance options, see avoiding probate. To get matched with a local Colorado estate-planning attorney, connect with a lawyer.
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Start your free intakeFrequently asked questions
- What law governs trusts in Colorado?
- The Colorado Uniform Trust Code, found at Title 15, Article 5 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (C.R.S. § 15-5-101 and following).
- Does a living trust avoid probate in Colorado?
- A funded revocable living trust lets assets pass outside probate. The key word is 'funded' — only assets you actually retitle into the trust during your life pass outside probate (C.R.S. § 15-5-101).
- Can I change a revocable living trust?
- Yes. A revocable trust can be amended or revoked during your life while you have capacity. That flexibility is what distinguishes it from an irrevocable trust.
Sources
Related guides
- Avoiding Probate in Colorado Many Colorado assets pass outside probate: beneficiary designations, payable-on-death/transfer-on-death accounts, joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and a funded revocable trust. Colorado also allows a beneficiary deed (a transfer-on-death deed) that conveys real property to a named beneficiary at the owner's death and is revocable during life (C.R.S. § 15-15-401).
- Colorado Advance Directives: Medical POA & Living Wills A medical durable power of attorney lets an agent make health-care decisions if you can't (C.R.S. § 15-14-506). A living will — formally a Declaration as to Medical Treatment — lets an adult direct that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn in a terminal condition or persistent vegetative state (C.R.S. § 15-18-104). Colorado also recognizes CPR directives and MOST forms.
- Colorado Intestate Succession: Dying Without a Will If you die without a will, Colorado's Uniform Probate Code rules decide who inherits (C.R.S. § 15-11-102). A surviving spouse takes the entire estate in some situations; in others the spouse takes a base amount plus a share, with the rest passing to descendants, then parents, then more remote kin (§ 15-11-103).
- Colorado Power of Attorney: Durable by Default Under the Colorado Uniform Power of Attorney Act, a financial power of attorney created on or after January 1, 2010 is durable by default — it survives the principal's incapacity unless the document expressly says it terminates on incapacity (C.R.S. § 15-14-704).
- Colorado Wills: Requirements & How They Work Colorado follows the Uniform Probate Code. A valid will must be in writing and signed by the testator, and then either signed by at least two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary (C.R.S. § 15-11-502(1)). Colorado also recognizes holographic wills — a will is valid without witnesses if the signature and material portions are in the testator's own handwriting (§ 15-11-502(2)).
- Related area: Probate in Colorado