Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Colorado charges $199.00 for a first probate filing, plus a $30.00 equal justice fee added statewide starting January 1, 2025, for $229.00 total.
If a trust could save your estate this fee in Colorado
A living trust avoids probate entirely in Colorado, which means the estate skips the $199.00 above along with every other cost the court charges once a case is open. LawDepot builds a state-specific one.
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What Colorado charges to open probate
This is a flat fee in Colorado: $199.00 is what it costs whether the estate is worth $40,000 or $4,000,000.
| Base docket fee, decedent’s estate (1st filing) | $199.00 |
| Equal justice fee (added 1/1/2025) | $30.00 |
| Total to open the estate | $229.00 |
Where this money goes and who sets it
The authority for this figure is C.R.S. § 13-32-102(1)(b). In the source’s own words: “Beginning January 1, 2025, the court shall collect the equal justice fee in the amount of thirty dollars on filings specified in subsections (1)(a), (1)(b), and (1)(f)”
What this fee doesn’t cover
Because Colorado’s fee is flat, it doesn’t rise as the estate grows, but it also doesn’t shrink for a small, simple estate the way a percentage-based state’s fee would. Either way, this is the court’s own charge just to open the file and issue letters, separate from what an attorney charges to actually handle the estate and separate from any state estate or inheritance tax the estate itself might owe.
Sources
Source: C.R.S. § 13-32-102(1)(b).