Colorado probate

[kfrancis]

I am currently in Texas but My Father lives in Colorado.
He is 76 and in very poor health. He refuses to make a will, never going to happen.
He has promised the house to me, but in the court of law a verbal promise means nothing. The problem is I have deadbeat alcoholic brother who has since moved into the house with our Father and refuses to leave.

I am told in Colorado, when a house goes into probate, whoever is still living in the house is considered the owner and near to impossible to get them out. I was told we could hire a lawyer to contest it but that could take years and he could live there the whole time. I am concered because I am sure that's why my brother moved into the house knowing our fathers condition and intends to take the house after he passes.

My father still owes money on the house and there is a lien on it as well. My brother will have no money to pay for whatever is left on the house except with the money he inherits.

What are the probate laws in Colorado and what will happen to the house?

 

[anteater]

...He refuses to make a will, never going to happen.
He has promised the house to me, but in the court of law a verbal promise means nothing...

Quite true. And, perhaps, if you explain that to your father and what happens if he dies without making a will, he will reconsider.

I am told in Colorado, when a house goes into probate, whoever is still living in the house is considered the owner and near to impossible to get them out.

Perhaps whoever told you this is indulging in poetic license. At best, the person living there would be considered a tenant and the estate personal representative would have to deal with him under Colorado landlord-tenant laws. But, if your father has no will and he is not married at time of death (an assumption since you do not mention a spouse), then the brother is going to be a co-owner and thngs will get more interesting.

Colorado Intestate Succession Laws (per CCH):

If any part of a Colorado decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:

1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:

If no surviving descendant or parent of the decedent, the surviving spouse gets the whole intestate estate.

If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and there are no other descendants of the surviving spouse who survive the decedent, then the surviving spouse receives the whole intestate estate.

If no descendant of the decedent survives the decedent, but a parent of the decedent survives, the surviving spouse receives the first $200,000, plus three-fourths of any remaining balance of the intestate estate.

If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the surviving spouse has one or more surviving descendants who are not descendants of the decedent, the surviving spouse receives the first $150,000, plus one-half of any remaining balance of the intestate estate.

If one or more of the decedent's surviving descendants are not descendants of the decedent's surviving spouse, and all of such surviving descendants who are children of the decedent are adults, the surviving spouse receives the first $100,000, plus one-half of any remaining balance of the intestate estate.

If one or more of the decedent's surviving descendants are not descendants of the decedent's surviving spouse, and if one or more of such descendants who are children of the decedent are minors, the surviving spouse receives one-half of the intestate estate.

2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes in the following order of availability to decedent's:

Descendants per capita at each generation.
Parent or parents equally.
Parents' surviving descendants per capita at each generation.
Surviving grandparent(s) equally.
Grandparents' surviving descendants per capita at each generation.
Surviving birth child (defined as a child who was born to, but adopted away from, his or her natural parent) or children per capita at each generation. The birth child must file a claim for inheritance with the court having probate jurisdiction over the decedent's estate within 90 days of decedent's death.
Birth parent (defined as the natural parent of a child who was born to, but adopted away from, the natural parent) or parents equally.