Most Coloradans do not lack the will to plan — they lack a starting point. The paperwork lives in six places, the terms sound foreign, and so the whole project waits for a someday that keeps moving.
A checklist fixes that, because every item on it is small. Gather what you own. Decide who gets it and who is in charge. Sign the handful of documents that make it official. Check the machinery every few years.
This page walks through each stage as our Colorado team does with clients — and if you want the guided version, our free Colorado Estate Snapshot at /estate-snapshot turns this checklist into a personalized report in minutes.
Step one: inventory what you own and how it is titled
Before any document is drafted, list the assets: real estate, retirement accounts, bank and brokerage accounts, life insurance, business interests, vehicles, and anything digital or sentimental that needs a destination. For each, note how it is titled and whether a beneficiary is named — because titling and designations, not your will, control many assets.
This is also where surprises surface: the old employer retirement plan with an ex-spouse still named, the deed never updated after a refinance, the account a parent added you to years ago. Finding these on paper now is far cheaper than your family finding them in probate later.
- List every asset with its approximate value and location
- Record exact titling: sole, joint, trust, or entity ownership
- Pull the actual beneficiary designation on file for each account and policy
- Note debts and any assets in other states, which can trigger separate probate
- Include digital assets: accounts, photos, crypto, and the access your family would need
Step two: the core documents every Colorado adult needs
Four documents form the foundation: a will that directs your probate assets and names your personal representative — and guardians, if you have minor children; a financial power of attorney; a medical durable power of attorney; and a living will stating your wishes about life-sustaining care. Many families add a revocable trust to avoid probate and manage incapacity, though not everyone needs one.
Colorado adds a distinctive tool worth asking about: the beneficiary deed, which can pass real estate outside probate. Whether it helps or conflicts with the rest of your plan depends on your situation — the attorney will tailor the document set rather than selling a package.
Step three: fund, coordinate, and revisit
Signing is not finishing. If you created a trust, assets must actually be retitled into it. Beneficiary designations must be updated to match the plan. Your personal representative, agents, and trustee should know they are named and where documents live. This coordination step is the one most checklists — and many plans — leave undone.
Then put a review trigger on the calendar: revisit after marriages, divorces, births, deaths, moves, business changes, or significant shifts in the law, such as the 2026 federal exemption changes. A free Legacy Game Plan Session is a straightforward way to close whatever gaps your checklist reveals.
