Chapter 55 - § 55.7 • EQUITABLE DEFENSES

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 55.7 • EQUITABLE DEFENSES

§ 55.7.1—Laches

The elements of laches are:

1) Full knowledge of the facts;
2) Unreasonable delay in the assertion of an available remedy; and
3) Intervening reliance by and prejudice to another.

Hickerson v. Vessels, 316 P.3d 620, 623 (Colo. 2014). "The essential element of laches is unconscionable delay in enforcing a right under the circumstances, usually involving prejudice to the one against whom the claim is asserted." Id. (quoting Loveland Camp No. 83 v. Woodmen Bldg. & Benevolent Ass'n, 116 P.2d 195, 199 (Colo. 1941)). Laches requires "such unreasonable delay in the assertion of and attempted securing of equitable rights as to constitute in equity and good conscience a bar to recovery." Id.

The Colorado Supreme Court acknowledged the operation of equitable concepts when it held in Hickerson that the doctrine of laches did not conflict with, and had separate operation to bar a claim not yet barred by, the statute of limitations. This ruling has special application in the probate litigation context, such as in cases involving alleged financial exploitation of an elderly individual who is likely to decline cognitively and perhaps die within the statutory limitations period.

§ 55.7.2—Waiver

Waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right. Duran v. Housing Authority of Denver, 761 P.2d 180, 183 (Colo. 1988); In re Hill, 166 P.3d 269, 273 (Colo. App. 2007). Waiver may be express, as when a party states its intent to abandon an existing right, or implied, as when a party engages in conduct that manifests an intent to relinquish the right or acts inconsistently with its assertion. Id. To constitute an implied waiver, the conduct must be free from ambiguity and clearly manifest the intent not to assert the benefit. Id.

§ 55.7.3—Equitable Estoppel

"Generally, equitable estoppel arises where one party induces another to detrimentally change position in reasonable reliance on that party's actions through words, conduct, or silence." V Bar Ranch LLC v. Cotten, 233 P.3d 1200, 1210 (Colo. 2010) (citing City of Thornton v. Bijou Irrigation Co., 926 P.2d 1, 75...