Estate and Trust Forum
| Publication year | 1982 |
| Pages | 1850 |
| Citation | Vol. 11 No. 7 Pg. 1850 |
1982, July, Pg. 1850. Estate and Trust Forum
Most attorneys ask secretaries or paralegals to attend to procedural details in administering estates under the Colorado Probate Code. However, the attorney still must assume responsibility for that work being timely and properly performed. Procedural checklists can be helpful in knowing the administrative status of an estate at any particular time, in assuring that all required notices have been given, and in automatically providing a proper financial accounting. Even so, checklists alone are not enough. This article touches upon various additional aids to a well-handled estate.
At the outset, it is helpful to scan the applicable pre-printed forms and to review the recently amended probate rules. The Colorado Supreme Court Judicial Department has distributed new revised probate forms in an 8-1/2"x 11" format to the Clerk of the Court in every county. Each court also has an index of the forms. Both the index and the new forms are available for examination and copying by attorneys.
The probate rules have been partially amended for clarity, to harmonize with the new forms, and to promote better administration of estates in conformity with the letter and the spirit of the Probate Code on a statewide uniform basis so that Colorado lawyers can practice confidently in any Colorado court.
Most Colorado domiciliary estates with substantial income or valuable assets require administration in court, or make such administration desirable. Therefore, let us assume here that there is to be an appointment of a personal representative, although a will can be probated or there can be an adjudication of intestacy and determination of heir-ship without appointment of a personal representative and administration of the estate as such.(fn1)
There are four stages in the court proceedings as to either a testate or an intestate estate: (1) probate of the will (or if there is no will, the adjudication of intestacy and determination of heirship); (2) appointment of the personal representative; (3) administration of the estate (which consists of estate transactions and legal procedures by the personal representative); and (4) closing the estate.
At each stage of court proceedings in both kinds of estates there are two alternative types of proceedings: formal and informal.(fn2) If a dispute has arisen(fn3) or if under certain other circumstances a court decision is required, the proceedings must be formal;(fn4) there is no choice. However, the Probate Code provides that if there is no objection made to a petition for probate of a will, an order for formal probate may be entered upon affidavit without a hearing.(fn5) Rule 34(12) of the Supreme Court Rules of Probate Procedure provides that a Court Clerk or a Deputy Clerk can be authorized to enter formal orders admitting a will to probate or to determine heirship, if there has been no objection filed. Presumably, the latter includes an order adjudicating intestacy as well, although not expressly spelled out in the rule.
Formal proceedings are initiated by "petition"(fn6) or under circumstances permitting informal proceedings,(fn7) by "Application."(fn8) The only stage in which informal proceedings can never be used under any circumstances is an adjudication of intestacy and determination of heirship(fn9) because an adjudication by the court is required.(fn10) Under informal proceedings, the Registrar (appointed by the Chief Judge)(fn11) is authorized by statute to exercise quasi-judicial authority and enter certain orders which includ statutory findings by the Registrar.(fn12)
When informal proceedings can be used initially because no adjudication is required, formal proceedings may still be desirable for a subsequent step. Many attorneys overlook the fact that formal and informal proceedings can be...
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