Chapter 42 - § 42.4 • SUMMARY OF COLORADO DEAD MAN'S STATUTE

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 42.4 • SUMMARY OF COLORADO DEAD MAN'S STATUTE

As indicated above, the Colorado historic dead man's statute has been repealed and re-enacted in a simplified format. The details are discussed in § 42.21.

The following is a thumbnail summary of the historic, now repealed, Colorado dead man's statute.⁴

No party to any civil action or proceeding, or directly interested in the event thereof [but see § 42.13 as to executor named in will], shall be allowed to testify therein of his or her own volition, when any adverse party sues or defends as a personal representative of a decedent, or incompetent, or as or for an heir, legatee, or devisee, unless when called by an adverse party so suing or defending, with the following exceptions: (1) he or she may testify as to events after the death of such deceased person; (2) if an agent of the decedent testifies in favor of the representative, heir, legatee, or devisee, with regard to a conversation or transaction with the opposing party, the opposing party may testify concerning the same matter; (3) if any such party suing or defending, or any person directly interested in the event of the action, shall testify in favor of the party so suing or defending, to any conversation or transaction with the opposite party or parties, then the opposite party shall be permitted to testify to the same conversation or transaction; (4) if any witness, not a party, or a party in interest, or not an agent of the decedent, shall testify to a conversation or admission by any adverse party or parties in interest, occurring before the death and in the absence of the decedent, such adverse party or parties in interest may testify to the same admission or conversation; (5) when the deposition of the decedent shall be read into evidence, any adverse party may testify to all relevant matters testified to in the decedent's deposition; (6) if the conversation or transaction took place with the decedent before death, in his or her presence and also in the presence of a member of his family, or of any heir, legatee or devisee of decedent's, then over the age of sixteen years

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