Denver · Whiteford Trusts & Estates
Whiteford pairs Denver-based counsel with a Chambers-ranked national trusts and estates platform — for Colorado families planning ahead, settling an estate, or facing an inheritance that isn't being handled right.
Clear, quoted fees for planning — and contingency options for inheritance disputes where appropriate.Contingency representation for injury cases.
Free consultations — a straight answer before any engagement
Clear fees — quoted planning fees in writing; contingency options for disputes where appropriate
Denver based, with Whiteford's national trusts & estates platform (ACTEC fellows, Chambers-ranked)
24/7 intake — a real conversation and a booked consultation, any hour
How we can help
Don't see your situation? Browse all services or call — if we can't help, we'll say so.
The law, current
$15M
Federal exemption — now permanent
The 2025 federal tax law made the estate and gift tax exemption permanent at $15,000,000 per person (indexed) beginning in 2026 — roughly $30M for a married couple with proper planning. Colorado imposes no state estate or inheritance tax. Plans written under older, lower exemptions often carry structures families no longer need — or miss opportunities they now have.
UPC
Colorado probate: simpler — but not simple
Colorado follows the Uniform Probate Code: many estates qualify for informal probate, and small estates under an inflation-indexed threshold can often skip court entirely via affidavit. But without a will, Colorado's intestate-succession statutes — not your wishes — decide who inherits, and blended families are where those defaults surprise people most.
Clocks
Dispute deadlines run quietly
Will contests, trust challenges, creditor claims, and fiduciary-misconduct actions in Colorado all carry deadlines — some triggered by notices a beneficiary may not even recognize as starting a clock. If something about an estate feels wrong, the single most protective step is learning your specific deadlines early.
Sources: Pub. L. 119-21 (2025) (federal exemption); Colo. Rev. Stat. Title 15 (probate, intestacy, small-estate collection; Colorado Uniform Trust Code). General information, not legal or tax advice; thresholds adjust and exceptions apply.
Not another "initial consult"
30 minutes with our Colorado team. You leave with a clear plan — whether or not you engage us.
Clear, quoted fees for planning — and contingency options for inheritance disputes where appropriate.
Every engagement starts with a written scope and fee agreement. No surprises, no hourly mystery bills for planning work.
Your document & deadline check
What you have, what's missing, and any clock that's already running — probate windows, contest periods, tax elections.
The exposure map
Where your estate (or your inheritance) is actually vulnerable: probate costs, incapacity gaps, tax exposure, or a problem fiduciary.
A straight answer
Whether your situation needs an attorney at all. If a simple will or a phone call solves it, we'll say so — for free.
Your next-three-steps memo
The specific documents to gather or actions to take, in order, whatever you decide about hiring us.
You leave with all four — whether or not you ever hire us. No pressure, no obligation, no fine print.
Straight answers
“I'm not wealthy enough to need an estate plan.”
If you own a home in Colorado, you likely have more at stake than you think — and without documents, state defaults decide everything: who inherits, who raises your kids, who speaks for you if you're incapacitated.
“A will means my family avoids probate.”
It's the opposite — a will is instructions *for* probate. Avoiding court generally takes different tools: trusts, beneficiary designations, and correctly titled assets.
“The trustee is family — questioning them would tear us apart.”
Silence is what tears families apart, slowly. Fiduciaries owe legal duties precisely so beneficiaries can ask for accountings without it being personal. Asking early is protective, not hostile.
“We did our documents years ago — we're covered.”
Plans age. Federal law changed dramatically in 2025, families change faster, and unfunded trusts — assets never retitled — are the most common way good plans quietly fail.
How it works
01
A free, confidential conversation — or start with the two-minute Estate Snapshot. Planning or dispute, we listen first; no obligation, no pressure.
02
What exists, what's missing, and every clock that's running — probate windows, contest periods, tax elections. Estates are won and lost on timing.
03
For planning: a design built around your family, assets, and tax picture. For disputes: records, accountings, and title work that show what actually happened.
04
Documents signed, trusts funded, plans that actually work — or a dispute pressed by a Chambers-ranked trusts and estates platform prepared to litigate when needed.
Your legal team
Whiteford Mountain West pairs Colorado-based leadership with the trial depth of Whiteford's full national litigation platform — so serious cases get serious resources.
Partner · Co-Chair, Trusts & Estates
Whiteford national platform
Peter Antonoplos co-chairs Whiteford's Trusts and Estates section, bringing more than twenty years of experience advising individuals, families, businesses, and institutions on estate planning, trusts, asset protection, and complex estate and gift tax strategy.
Managing Director, Whiteford Mountain West
Denver, Colorado
Jeff Schell is a Denver-based partner at Whiteford and the Managing Director of Whiteford Mountain West. A Colorado attorney, he was named one of ColoradoBiz Magazine's 25 Most Influential Young Professionals in Colorado.
Attorneys are admitted in the jurisdictions listed in their official firm profiles. Colorado matters are supervised and led through Whiteford's Colorado-admitted attorneys, with the firm's national trusts-and-estates counsel engaged on each matter as appropriate and permitted.
The free Colorado Estate Snapshot walks through what actually determines how estates fare in Colorado — documents, titling, taxes, family structure, and the deadlines nobody mentions — in about two minutes. No obligation, and no pressure. Want a real answer instead? Book a free Legacy Game Plan Session and leave with a plan.
Educational only — not legal or tax advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created.
