Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Colorado charges $199.00 for a first probate filing in an estate that does not qualify for the $83.00 small-estate docket fee, plus a $30.00 equal justice fee added statewide starting January 1, 2025, for $229.00 total.
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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
Colorado sets one docket fee for an estate outside the small-estate category: $199.00 is what it costs whether the estate is worth $40,000 or $4,000,000, while an estate that qualifies for summary administrative procedures and involves no real property pays a lower $83.00 docket fee.
| Base docket fee, estate not in the $83.00 small-estate category (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) and (7). In the source’s own words, from subsection (7): “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) of this section on behalf of the equal justice authority and transmit the equal justice fee in the manner specified in section 13-5.7-205 (2).”
What this fee doesn’t cover
Because Colorado’s $199.00 docket fee is flat, it doesn’t rise as the estate grows, and only an estate that qualifies for the $83.00 small-estate docket fee pays less, unlike a percentage-based state’s fee that shrinks with the estate. 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) and (7).