Tips to Sell Your House During Probate

Can you sell a house during probate in Colorado? Yes. Once the court appoints a personal representative and issues Letters, that person can list the house, sign the contract and sign the deed without a court order, unless the will or a court order restricts the sale (C.R.S. 15-12-711, C.R.S. 15-12-715). Unsupervised administration is the Colorado default, so there is no court confirmation hearing for the sale. Rules checked Oct 28, 2026 against the Colorado Probate Code (C.R.S. Title 15) and the Colorado Judicial Branch estate pages.

Selling an inherited home in the Denver metro? See Denver probate Realtors: selling an inherited or estate home. Start with the number: what is the house worth today? Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.

How probate works in Colorado

Colorado's probate law is the Colorado Probate Code, Articles 10 to 17 of C.R.S. Title 15, adapted from the Uniform Probate Code. Every estate starts one of two ways:

Unsupervised or supervised. After appointment, an unsupervised personal representative settles the estate without a court ruling, order or direction (C.R.S. 15-12-704). Supervised administration happens only when someone petitions and the court orders it (C.R.S. 15-12-501, C.R.S. 15-12-502); the court then keeps control until it approves distribution.

Small estates. The Colorado small-estate affidavit collects money, bank accounts and tangible personal property, ten or more days after the death, when the estate's net value stays under the statutory limit (C.R.S. 15-12-1201). The statute does not list real estate, so a house titled in the decedent's name alone goes through probate unless one of the transfers in "Homes that skip probate" below applies.

Who can sell the house: the personal representative and the Letters

Colorado calls the executor the personal representative. The court's Letters are the proof of that authority, and the title company that closes the sale works from them, so keep certified copies on hand.

• Power to sell. A personal representative has the same power over the title to estate property that an absolute owner would have, in trust for the creditors and heirs, and can use it without notice, hearing or court order (C.R.S. 15-12-711). The Colorado Fiduciaries' Powers Act adds the power to sell real estate "at public or private sale" (C.R.S. 15-1-804(2)(g)), and C.R.S. 15-12-715 applies it to personal representatives.
• The will can limit it. Read the will first. A will can restrict the sale, and the Fiduciaries' Powers Act sale power covers estate real estate that is not specifically left to a named person. If the will leaves the house to someone by name, talk to the estate's attorney before you list.
• Supervised estates. Any limit the court sets must be written on the Letters; a limit that is not on the Letters does not bind a buyer dealing in good faith (C.R.S. 15-12-504).
• Selling to yourself or family. A sale to the personal representative, a spouse, an agent or the estate's attorney is voidable by an interested person unless the will authorized it or the court approved it after notice (C.R.S. 15-12-713).

Is court confirmation required to sell a probate house in Colorado?

Not in an unsupervised estate: no hearing, no confirmation order and no court-run auction. In a supervised estate the personal representative still sells without interim orders unless the court restricted that power on the Letters; what needs the court's prior order is distributing estate property (C.R.S. 15-12-504). The one sale that always needs extra approval is a conflict-of-interest sale (C.R.S. 15-12-713).

The Colorado probate timeline

Plan on six to twelve months for a simple unsupervised estate: six months is the floor for an informal closing, and the four-month creditor window sits inside it. A contested will or a supervised estate runs longer. The house sale can close inside that window; the sale money goes to the estate, and the creditor period sets when the heirs can be paid.

Sell as-is or prepare the house first?

A personal representative must act reasonably and equitably for the creditors and heirs (C.R.S. 15-1-804), so compare the net of each path in writing before you choose:

• As-is to a cash buyer: local investors pay 70% to 85% of after-repair value and close in 7 to 14 days, with no repairs or showings. See Denver cash home buyers: offers compared.
• As-is on the MLS: open-market buyers compete, inspections turn into repair credits, and the estate skips the work.
• Prepared and listed: clean-out, paint, flooring and the inspection items buyers flag. This route costs estate cash up front and pays off when the price gain beats the spend.

While the house waits: tell the insurer it is vacant, keep heat on and winterize the water lines before a Colorado freeze, and keep utilities on for showings, the inspection and the appraisal.

Taxes when you sell an inherited Colorado house

• Stepped-up basis: the basis of inherited property is its fair market value on the date of death, or on the alternate valuation date if the personal representative elects it (IRS Publication 551). A sale close to the date-of-death value produces little or no capital gain, so get that value documented: an appraisal, plus a Smart Pricing Report for today's market.
• No Colorado estate or inheritance tax: Colorado's estate tax ended for deaths after December 31, 2004, and no Colorado estate tax filing is required (Colorado Legislative Council Staff). The inheritance tax it replaced ended in 1980.
• A CPA handles the estate's income tax return and any federal estate tax question on a large estate.

Homes that skip probate in Colorado

• Joint tenancy: title held in joint tenancy passes to the surviving joint tenant.
• Beneficiary deed: a beneficiary deed recorded before the owner's death transfers the house at death to the named grantee-beneficiary (C.R.S. 15-15-402, "Nonprobate Transfers on Death").
• Living trust: a house deeded to a trust is sold by the trustee under the trust, not through probate.

Checklist: selling a house during probate in Colorado

1. Find the will and pull the deed from the county clerk and recorder to see how title is held.
2. Open probate (informal application, JDF 916) and get certified copies of the Letters.
3. Secure, insure and winterize the house; forward the mail.
4. Send the 30-day information of appointment to the heirs and devisees, and publish the notice to creditors.
5. Document the date-of-death value and get today's market value.
6. Compare the as-is, cash and prepared nets in writing.
7. List with an agent who has sold probate homes; give the title company the Letters.
8. Close; deposit the proceeds to the estate account; pay valid claims; distribute; close the estate.

Quick answers

General information about Colorado law, not legal advice. For a will dispute, a house left to a named person or a supervised estate, talk to a Colorado probate attorney.

Contact The Kenna Group

The Kenna Group at Keller Williams DTC sells probate and estate homes across the Front Range, as-is or prepared. Read more on Colorado probate real estate agents and Denver probate Realtors, and get the number first: what is the house worth?

Call or text 303-955-4220. A live person answers.

Sources (checked Oct 28, 2026)

• Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 15 (Colorado Probate Code and Colorado Fiduciaries' Powers Act), Colorado General Assembly, 2024 text: sections 15-1-804, 15-12-301, 15-12-401, 15-12-501, 15-12-502, 15-12-504, 15-12-704, 15-12-705, 15-12-711, 15-12-713, 15-12-715, 15-12-801, 15-12-1003, 15-12-1201, 15-15-402 (leg.colorado.gov).
• Colorado Judicial Branch: Probate, closing an estate, JDF 916.
• IRS Publication 551, Basis of Assets.
• Colorado Legislative Council Staff, Estate Tax.