Probate Estate Closing and Representative Discharge in Colorado

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Statement, formal settlement and supervision

Outside supervised administration, a representative may file a verified closing statement no earlier than six months after original appointment or one year after death, whichever occurs first. The statement recites completion of administration, disposition of claims and taxes, and distribution of assets. If liabilities remain, it states the distributees' agreement to take subject to them or details other arrangements. The representative sends copies to distributees and known claimants whose claims are unpaid and unbarred, and gives affected distributees a full written account. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-1003.)

The representative may instead petition for complete settlement at any time. Another interested person may petition after one year from original appointment; the predeath-claim presentation period must first expire. After notice and hearing, the court may approve settlement, account and distribution, and discharge the representative from interested-person demands. A narrower petition for a will probated informally can settle a testate estate without adjudicating testacy. Supervised administration ends by court order under the complete-settlement notice and order rules, unless the court directs otherwise. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-1001; § 15-12-1002; § 15-12-505.)

Closure, appointment and liability

If no representative proceeding is pending one year after the closing statement is filed, the appointment terminates. The general termination rule ends office power but preserves liability for earlier transactions and duties to protect, account for and deliver assets. A separate rule generally requires fiduciary-duty proceedings by successors and unbarred creditors within six months after statement filing; fraud, misrepresentation and inadequate-disclosure recovery is excepted. Those two clocks answer different questions. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-1003; § 15-12-608; § 15-12-1005.)

After termination, the representative or a surety may seek a registrar certificate showing apparent full administration and releasing a lien given as security. The certificate does not prevent a claim against the representative or surety. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-1007.)

What trips people up

For an estate with three years of no recorded action, the court may close it without a further account on its own motion after statutory notice, or on motion of an interested person or attorney. That order does not discharge liability to the estate, court or others; bond sureties are released only as to claims arising after that closure. An interested person can move to reopen it. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-1009.)

Common questions

Can an estate be administered again after closure? If later property or unfinished distribution shows administration was incomplete after discharge or one year after a statement, an interested person may petition for appointment of the same or a successor representative. A previously barred claim cannot be revived. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-1008.)

Can the court allow a partial distribution during supervision? Yes. The court may issue an interim order approving or directing partial distribution while supervised administration is pending. (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-12-505.)

Statutes and sources

The quoted provisions come from the Colorado General Assembly's 2026 Revised Statutes, Title 15, accessed October 4, 2026.