What to bring to your first meeting
A printable checklist, plus what not to email us.
Resources
Here you’ll find easy-to-read guides to wills, living trusts, and probate in Colorado and Arizona. You’ll also find printable checklists, a glossary of legal words, and links to official court websites. Everything here is general information, not legal advice, and each guide shows when it was last reviewed.
Tools you can use today
After a death: a checklist for the first 30 days
What to do in the first days and weeks, and what can wait.
Will or living trust? Answer 9 questions
See which may suit you.
Legal words, in terms you can understand
Short, clear meanings for words like probate, trustee, and power of attorney.
Which guide do you need?
Jump to: Planning ahead · After a death · Aging parents · Business
Planning ahead
- Who needs a living trust in Colorado? Who gains the most from a trust, and how it compares with a will.
- How to fund a living trust in Colorado How to move your home and accounts into your trust, step by step.
- What makes a will valid in Colorado? Who can sign, the witness and notary rules, and what to gather first.
- How to avoid probate in Colorado Trusts, beneficiary deeds, and other ways property can skip court.
- What happens if you die without a will in Colorado? Who inherits under state law when there is no will, and how Arizona differs.
After a death
- How probate works in Colorado, step by step Each step of probate, the deadlines set by law, and when you may not need it.
- How probate works in Arizona, step by step The Arizona process, its deadlines, and Maricopa County forms.
- Small estate affidavits in Colorado and Arizona When an estate is small enough to skip probate, with the 2026 limits.
Aging parents
Our guides for families caring for a parent are on the way. For now, see help for an aging parent and guardianship and conservatorship.
Business
For business owners, start with our page on business law for small businesses.
Where can you find official information?
These official and professional websites have more information. Each link opens another website that we don’t control.
- Colorado Judicial Branch: opening an estate (self-help) (opens another website)
- Arizona courts Self-Service Center (opens another website)
- Maricopa County Superior Court: probate forms (opens another website)
- Colorado Revised Statutes (opens another website)
- Arizona Revised Statutes (opens another website)
- State Bar of Arizona (opens another website)
- State Bar of California (opens another website)
- Colorado Bar Association (opens another website)
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (opens another website)
- United States Courts (opens another website)
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