Denver Estate Planning Attorney

We Provide Comprehensive Estate Planning Services and Ongoing Support to Clients Throughout the Denver Area

At Colorado Estate Planning Law Center, we have assisted Denver residents for more than 21 years with wills, trusts, and estate planning guidance. Estate planning is a gift you can give your loved ones and make sure your property goes where you want it to. As a result, if you don’t currently have an estate plan, it is important to make estate planning a priority.

If you need assistance with estate planning, consult with our Denver estate planning attorney to help create a plan on how you’d like things managed. Call our Colorado office today at (303) 952-1574 or fill out our online contact form.

Denver Estate Planning Resources

What is Estate Planning?

Estate planning is the act of establishing who will receive one’s assets after death. It is important to have an estate plan, as it helps you recognize who will inherit your assets and also demonstrate your funeral arrangements and medical requests.

There are different parts to estate planning, and your estate is made up of all the possessions you own including:

  •     Motor Vehicles
  •     Clothing
  •     Jewelry
  •     Houses
  •     Investments
  •     Savings
  •     Land
  •     Bank Accounts
  •     Retirement Accounts

All estate planning needs are different and can be complicated, which is why it is important to consult with an estate planning attorney. Estate planning lawyers are experts in trusts, wills, and local probate processes. They can assist in designating beneficiaries and establishing a durable medical power of attorney. Additionally, they can also help you find ways to reduce and avoid taxations for your estate. Many estate planning attorneys also specialize in planning business successions.

What is the Estate Planning Process?

Many people don’t realize that estate planning is an important and necessary step they need to take as they get older and acquire wealth, including property, cars, financial assets such as stocks and bonds, and anything else important or of value. When you pass away, you likely want to make sure that your family is taken care of and that your assets are distributed as you want them to be. To do this, estate planning is essential. 

The process of estate planning will vary based on your personal situation, but typically, it includes the following:

1. Make a list of your assets and debts. 

This is an important step to take so that you can make sure that you have accounted for everything. If you have accounts that you forgot about or don’t have the information to access, this will make estate planning difficult. It’s also important to know what you owe, because your estate will have to settle these debts before any of your finances and assets are distributed. 

2. Create a plan. 

Your business planning attorney will help you to correctly and legally set everything in motion in order to distribute your assets properly – hopefully without going through probate, if possible. This might include setting up trusts or gifting family members some of the assets before you pass away.

3. Document Your Wishes. 

Once you have everything in order and know what you want to do, it’s important to make sure that all of your wishes are clearly stated in written form. If no one knows how you want to distribute your assets, it won’t be possible for this to happen the way you want it to.

4. Appoint Someone To Help. 

It’s important to appoint a fiduciary who can help make sure your wishes are carried out according to plan – even if you’ve already written everything down. Make sure it’s someone you trust and know will follow your wishes.

Why Do I Need a Denver Estate Planning Lawyer?

Financial situations, no matter how well-planned they are, need professional supervision. In certain situations, it’s highly advisable to utilize the expertise of a Denver estate planning attorney. Some of the important things they can help you with include the following:

  • Planning your business succession
  • Assisting you with out-of-state assets when you want to pass them on. An experienced attorney will be familiar with tax codes and other state laws that are necessary for estate planning
  • Assisting you in leaving assets to an individual who is not a legal U.S resident
  • Helping protect foreign assets and properties
  • Creating a robust asset protection plan for your estate planning.

Denver Estate Planning Attorneys

Examples of Important Estate Planning Tools

Estate planning attorneys handle several different things, but some of the most common ways they assist people include the following:

Wills and Trusts (Including Revocable Living Trusts)

Wills and trusts are tools that can be utilized to make sure assets are passed on the way the owner intends them to be. An estate planning attorney can help you determine who to pass your assets to and how to make sure it’s done in the most effective way possible. This means attempting to avoid the probate process if possible, which can be an incredibly time-consuming, stressful, and expensive process at times.

Powers of Attorney

Powers of an attorney often need to be designated so that if something happens to you, you have a person who can help you handle your affairs. This often includes designating someone to make financial decisions, medical decisions, and any other important life decisions should you become incapacitated.

Living Will

A living will, also referred to as an advanced medical directive, is a document that gives a person – often a family member – the power to make medical decisions for you in the event that you are alive but in a vegetative state or are terminal and unable to communicate your wishes for the treatment or lack of treatment that you wish to receive.

Life Insurance Policies

Life insurance policies can be valuable estate planning tools as well. Life insurance policies can provide financial security for family members; and, similar to trusts, they are handled outside of the probate process. In appropriate cases, combining a life insurance policy with a trust—by creating an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT)—can be a powerful estate planning strategy as well.

Who Can Benefit From Estate Planning Services?

Regardless of age, wealth, or family situation, everyone can benefit from estate planning services. If you are 18 or older, it can be beneficial to have an estate plan to ensure your assets are protected. A will is just the first step that explains your wishes after your passing. Estate plans are much more descriptive and include different documents that state how you would like your assets managed after your passing. It can also assist with other needs including medical expenses, taxes, and court costs. An experienced estate planning lawyer will provide you with legal guidance on what best fits your unique situation.

Estate Planning Services We Offer in Denver

If you’re looking into hiring an estate planning lawyer or firm, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and if that firm offers the services you need and has the necessary experience. Some of the services we offer include the following:

Regardless of what your needs are, reach out to us so we can assist you. The above list doesn’t include every service we provide, so feel free to contact us at any time for questions about other services we offer. We are committed to providing comprehensive estate planning services, and we offer a diverse range of services that we custom-tailor to each client’s needs.

Common Estate Planning Mistakes

As with most situations in life, it’s difficult to avoid mistakes if you don’t know you’re making them. The same is true with estate planning. Some of the most common estate planning mistakes that you should avoid include the following:

  • Waiting too long to plan. Many people don’t realize that estate planning is necessary and must be executed before it becomes necessary. If you wait too long, it will be more difficult to effectively plan how your assets get distributed.
  • Failing to appoint a guardian for children under 18. It’s important to have a plan for your assets, but also for your family. If you are the sole caretaker of your minor children and you pass away, it’s crucial that you have legal documents in place so that they are taken care of. Even if you aren’t a single parent, a specific plan for their wellbeing should be in place in case something happens to both parents.  
  • Not changing or updating your plan. As time goes on, your wishes might change, or your financial situation may change. You might incur more debts or amass more assets. Making a plan once in your life and then never thinking about it again is a sure way for your wishes to not be followed. It’s likely that as you age and as your children age – and as your financial situation changes – you will want to update your estate plan. 

This list isn’t exhaustive – there are lots of mistakes that can be made. When you hire a dedicated and competent estate planning firm, they will ensure that these mistakes aren’t made and that everything goes according to your wishes. 

FAQs: Planning Your Estate and Protecting Your Loved Ones in Denver, CO

Do I need to be worried about estate taxes?

Estate taxes can be a concern for high-net-worth individuals and couples in Colorado. As of 2026, the federal filing threshold for estate taxes is $15 million. If you have concerns about estate tax liability, our team of trusted advisors can help you thoroughly address these concerns during the estate planning process.

Why is it important to avoid probate when estate planning?

Avoiding probate can be an important goal in estate planning because probate can increase the costs and stresses for your family after your death. Not everyone should be focused on avoiding probate, but avoiding probate can be a valuable benefit to a proper estate plan. We prioritize helping our clients make the transition at death as frictionless as possible, giving them peace of mind that their family members and other loved ones will not have to deal with any unnecessary burdens when administering their estate in the future.

If I have significant assets, how does this impact my estate planning needs?

If you have significant assets, this will make it especially important to craft a comprehensive and custom-tailored estate plan that is well-suited to your specific needs. If you are preparing to leave a financial legacy that will last decades, you will need to work closely with a Denver estate planning attorney who has extensive experience advising clients in your circumstances. We work with high-net-worth individuals and couples throughout the Denver area, and we are more than happy to discuss how we can help protect your financial interests and ensure that your financial legacy is secure.

Is hiring an attorney required for proper estate planning?

Technically speaking, you are not required to hire an attorney to prepare your estate plan. With that said, working closely with an experienced estate planning attorney is strongly recommended for several reasons. An experienced attorney will be able to help you make informed decisions with your family’s future in mind, and will be able to assist you with crafting an estate plan that serves your interests and provides the flexibility you need for the remainder of your lifetime.

Is it important to hire a local attorney in the Denver area for estate planning?

We believe that working with an experienced local attorney is beneficial for several reasons. Among them, it makes it easier to meet with your attorney in person. A local attorney will also be familiar with the local courts, local banks, and other local institutions—and this can play a role in ensuring the efficient and successful administration of your estate.

How do I find a good estate planning lawyer?

The best starting point is a personal referral from someone who has actually been through the process. Professional referrals from your accountant or financial advisor are also reliable, since they see the results of estate planning work firsthand. What separates a good fit from a poor one usually shows up in the first meeting, including whether the attorney asks about your family and goals before proposing documents, explains options in plain language, and is clear about scope and fees before you commit.

What assets do not form part of an estate?

Not everything you own passes through your estate. Assets that transfer automatically at death, whether by contract, by how they are titled, or through a trust, generally bypass probate entirely. These include retirement accounts, life insurance, and annuities with a named beneficiary, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, real estate held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and assets properly titled in the name of a revocable living trust. Non-probate transfers follow whatever form was filled out, not your intentions, so reviewing them periodically is how you keep everything pointed in the same direction.

What assets typically do not pass through probate?

Assets that carry their own instructions for what happens at death typically skip probate. That includes accounts with a named beneficiary, property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, payable on death and transfer on death accounts, and anything properly titled in a revocable living trust. These transfers happen by contract or by title, not by court order. The transfers that fail are usually the ones nobody checked, such as a beneficiary designation left blank, naming your estate, or a trust that was signed but never funded.

Our Estate Planning Process

At the Colorado Estate Planning Law Center our estate planning process is designed to help you move from uncertainty to confident clarity. While every family is different, most estate planning matters follow these seven steps:

Step 1: Schedule an Initial Planning Meeting

The first step is to schedule an Initial Planning Meeting with our office. You do not need to know what kind of estate plan you need before we meet. Part of our role is to help you understand your options and determine what level of planning makes sense for your family, assets, and goals.

Before the meeting, we may ask you to provide basic information about your family, your assets, and your concerns. This helps us make the meeting more productive and focused.

Step 2: Talk Through Your Goals and Concerns

At the Initial Planning Meeting, we will talk about what prompted you to begin planning, who you want to protect, and what concerns you most. For some clients, the main concern is making things easier for family members after death. For others, the focus is protecting minor children, planning for incapacity, reducing the risk of family conflict, addressing tax concerns, or making sure assets are properly aligned with the plan.

This conversation helps us understand not only what documents you may need, but what you want those documents to accomplish.

Step 3: Review Your Planning Options

After we understand your goals, we will explain your planning options in plain English. We use our Estate Protection Ladder to help clients see that estate planning is not just about documents. It is about choosing the right layers of protection for the people and causes you care about.

Some clients need an essential plan that names trusted decision-makers, gives clear instructions, and protects minor children. Others want added protection to make the transition after death smoother, more private, and less burdensome for loved ones.

Some families need additional protection for beneficiaries, such as planning for divorce, creditors, or responsible inheritance management. Clients with complex assets, business interests, charitable goals, or estate tax concerns may need more advanced planning. The point is not to push every client into the most complex plan.

The point is to help you choose the level of protection that fits your family, your assets, and the risks that matter most to you. Our goal is not to overwhelm you with legal terminology. Our goal is to help you understand the tradeoffs clearly so you can make informed decisions about the kind of plan that best fits your situation.

Step 4: Choose the Plan That Fits Your Needs

Once you understand your options, you can choose the planning approach that feels right for you. We will discuss the scope of the work, the planning process, and the fees before you decide whether to move forward. A good estate plan should reflect your priorities. It should also be practical for your family to use when it is needed.

Step 5: Design and Draft Your Documents

After you engage our firm, we begin designing and drafting your estate planning documents. Depending on your plan, this may include wills, revocable living trusts, financial powers of attorney, medical powers of attorney, advance directives, living wills, HIPAA authorizations, guardian nominations, and related documents.During this stage, we translate your decisions into legally effective documents tailored to your circumstances.

Step 6: Review, Sign, and Finalize the Plan

When the documents are ready, we review them with you and answer your questions. Once any needed revisions are made, we coordinate the signing process so the documents are properly executed. Signing the documents is an important milestone, but it is not the only goal. We want you to be confident that you understand how your plan works and what your loved ones may need to know when the time comes.

Step 7: Align Your Assets and Keep the Plan Current

An estate plan works best when your assets are aligned with it. This may involve reviewing how accounts are titled, checking beneficiary designations, or transferring certain assets to a trust when appropriate. Estate planning is also not a one-time event. Your plan may need to be updated as your family, assets, health, tax laws, or wishes change. We encourage clients to review their plans periodically so the documents continue to reflect their lives and goals.

The result should be more than a set of signed documents. A thoughtful estate plan should give you clarity, confidence, and a practical roadmap for the people who may one day need to step in and help.

Schedule an Initial Consultation with a Denver Estate Planning Attorney At Our Law Firm Today

Speaking with a Denver estate planning attorney as soon as possible is always advisable. We never know when we are going to get ill or become unable to make decisions for ourselves. In order to make sure that all of your wishes are carried out as intended, it’s crucial to start planning early. Contact our experienced Arvada estate planning attorneys at (303) 952-1574 as soon as possible so you can make sure your wishes are carried out appropriately.

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