Colorado Estate Inventory: JDF 941 and What to List

A Colorado personal representative must prepare an inventory of the estate's probate property within three months after appointment, listing each item at its fair market value on the date of death along with any encumbrance. The governing section is C.R.S. 15-12-706. The state form is JDF 941, the Decedent's Estate Inventory.

The part that surprises most people: in Colorado you do not automatically file it. Read on for who actually receives it.

The One Thing Colorado Does Differently

In many states the inventory is a court filing with a due date on the docket. Colorado gives the personal representative a choice. Under C.R.S. 15-12-706, the personal representative either sends the inventory to interested persons who request it, or files the original with the court.

That choice matters for two reasons. A filed inventory becomes part of a public court record, listing what the decedent owned and what it was worth. Sending it only to those who ask keeps the detail among the people entitled to see it. Some personal representatives file anyway, because a filed inventory is easy to point to later when an heir asks what was in the estate.

Preparing it is not optional either way. The three-month clock runs from appointment, not from the death and not from the day the will was lodged.

What Goes on the Inventory

The inventory covers property the decedent owned that passes by will or by intestate succession. That is the probate estate, and it is narrower than everything the person owned.

Property that generally belongs on the list:

• Real estate titled in the decedent's sole name, described by its legal description
• Bank and brokerage accounts in the decedent's sole name with no payable-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary
• Vehicles, boats and trailers titled solely to the decedent
• Personal belongings of real value, such as jewellery, firearms, collections and equipment
• A business interest, a partnership share, or a promissory note payable to the decedent
• Money owed to the decedent, including a final paycheck or a tax refund

Property that generally does not, because it passes outside probate:

• Accounts with a living payable-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary
• Real estate that passed under a Colorado beneficiary deed
• Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship
• Life insurance and retirement accounts with a surviving named beneficiary
• Assets already titled in a living trust

Sorting the two lists is the real work, and it is worth doing before you value anything. The Colorado guide to avoiding probate walks through the same nonprobate categories from the planning side, which is a useful cross-check when you are unsure which column an account belongs in.

Values Are Dated, Not Current

Every value on the inventory is the fair market value on the date of death, not what the asset is worth the day you fill in the form. For an account, that is the balance on the date of death. For a house, it is what the property would have sold for then.

List encumbrances alongside the value rather than netting them out. A house worth $600,000 with a $220,000 mortgage is listed at its date-of-death value with the mortgage shown, not as $380,000.

Where a value is genuinely hard to establish, C.R.S. 15-12-707 allows the personal representative to employ a qualified appraiser for any asset whose value is doubtful, and to name the appraiser on the inventory beside the item they valued. An appraisal costs money and the estate pays it, so it is worth weighing against the size of the asset. The Colorado probate cost guide covers where appraisal and valuation charges sit among the other administration expenses.

The Form and Where It Lives

Colorado publishes the Decedent's Estate Inventory as JDF 941 through the Judicial Branch self-help forms library.

One naming trap is worth flagging because it catches people mid-task. JDF 942 is the Interim or Final Accounting form, not the inventory. The accounting reports receipts and payments over a period; the inventory reports what the estate held at the moment of death. They are different documents at different stages. The rest of the Colorado set is indexed in the Colorado probate forms guide.

Where the Deadline Sits Among the Others

The inventory is not the first deadline after appointment. Within 30 days of appointment the personal representative must give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees under C.R.S. 15-12-705(1). The inventory follows at three months.

Both are appointment-relative, which is why the date letters were issued is the date to write down and work from. The Colorado probate timeline sets out the full sequence, including the creditor windows that run on their own clock, and the Colorado personal representative duties guide covers the rest of the task list the inventory sits inside.

Common Snags

Finding assets after you prepare it. Estates surface forgotten accounts months in. Prepare a supplementary or amended inventory covering the newly found property rather than leaving the original standing as though it were complete.

Treating a beneficiary account as estate property. A payable-on-death account belongs to the named beneficiary and is not probate property, even though the bank statement arrives at the decedent's address. Putting it on the inventory overstates the estate and can distort what heirs expect.

Using a current balance. Statements you can download today show today's value. The inventory needs the date-of-death figure, which for most institutions means a written request for a date-of-death valuation.

Guessing at contents. A single line reading "household goods, $5,000" is defensible for ordinary furnishings. It is not defensible where there is a firearm collection, art, or a vehicle in a barn, each of which an interested person may reasonably ask about individually.

Who Can Ask to See It

C.R.S. 15-12-706 frames the inventory around interested persons. If you take the send-on-request route rather than filing, the request is what triggers your obligation, so keep a note of who asked and what you sent them and when.

One case has a rule of its own. Where the heirs are unknown, a copy of the inventory also goes to the Colorado attorney general within the same three months, so the state can protect an interest nobody is present to claim.

Heirs and devisees are the obvious requesters. A creditor with a pending claim may also have standing to see what the estate holds, because the inventory is the document that shows whether the estate can pay. Refusing a legitimate request is a poor position for a personal representative: the inventory is the evidence that you did the work, and withholding it invites the supervised proceeding the informal process exists to avoid.

If you file with the court instead, anyone who pulls the case file sees it. That is the trade. Neither route is wrong, and estates with family friction often file precisely because a court-stamped document is harder to argue with later.

When Assets Turn Up Later

Estates surface forgotten property months in: a dormant account, a refund cheque, a mineral interest nobody knew about, a storage unit.

This is not a matter of good practice. C.R.S. 15-12-708 requires a supplementary inventory when property not included in the original comes to the personal representative's knowledge, or when a value in the original proves erroneous or misleading. The original was accurate when you signed it; the supplement is what keeps it accurate. Send or file it the same way you handled the first one, so the record stays consistent.

The same applies to a value that turns out to be wrong once an appraisal comes back. Correct it rather than carrying a figure you no longer believe.

Where This Sits Against the Small Estate Path

If the estate qualifies to be collected by affidavit under C.R.S. 15-12-1201, there is no personal representative and no inventory duty, because no one was appointed. The affidavit route and the inventory duty are alternatives, not steps in one sequence. The Colorado small estate affidavit guide covers the limit and the ten-day wait.

The inventory duty attaches on appointment. If you were appointed and then discover the estate would have fit the affidavit limit, you still owe the inventory for the estate you were appointed over.

Common Questions

When is the Colorado estate inventory due?

Within three months after appointment, under C.R.S. 15-12-706. The clock runs from the date letters were issued, not from the date of death and not from the date the will was lodged.

Do I have to file the inventory with the Colorado court?

Not necessarily. C.R.S. 15-12-706 lets the personal representative either send the inventory to interested persons who request it, or file the original with the court. Filing makes it part of a public record; sending on request keeps the detail among those entitled to it.

What form is the Colorado estate inventory?

JDF 941, the Decedent's Estate Inventory, from the Judicial Branch self-help forms library. JDF 942 is the Interim or Final Accounting, a different document for a later stage.

What value do I use for each asset?

Fair market value on the date of death, with any encumbrance listed alongside rather than subtracted. Most institutions will provide a date-of-death valuation on written request.

Do payable-on-death accounts go on the inventory?

Generally no. A POD or TOD account passes to the named beneficiary outside probate, so it is not part of the estate the inventory describes, even though statements may still arrive at the decedent's address.

Can I hire an appraiser, and who pays?

Yes. C.R.S. 15-12-707 allows the personal representative to employ a qualified appraiser for any asset whose value is doubtful, and to name that appraiser on the inventory beside the item. The estate pays the fee.

What happens if I miss the three-month deadline?

Colorado's informal process is unsupervised, so nobody sends a reminder. An interested person can petition the court, and a personal representative who has not met a statutory duty is in a weak position on any question of fiduciary conduct. Prepare it late rather than not at all.

Sources

• C.R.S. Title 15, Colorado Probate Code (15-12-706, 15-12-707, 15-12-708) | Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services | accessed 2026-08-03
• JDF 941 Decedent's Estate Inventory | Colorado Judicial Branch | accessed 2026-06-11
• Opening an Estate | Colorado Judicial Branch | accessed 2026-06-11 | appointment is what starts the three-month clock

Where an asset's ownership or value is genuinely contested, an attorney who handles Colorado probate is the right next call.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney about your situation. It is not legal advice.