2018 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 15 - Probate, Trusts, and Fiduciaries
Colorado Probate Code
Article 11 - Intestate Succession and Wills
Part 7 - Rules of Construction Applicable to Wills and Other Governing Instruments
§ 15-11-705. Class gifts construed to accord with intestate succession
(1) Definitions. In this section:
(a) "Adoptee" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-115.
(b) "Child of assisted reproduction" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-120.
(c) "Distribution date" means the date when an immediate or postponed class gift takes effect in possession or enjoyment.
(d) "Functioned as a parent of the adoptee" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-115, substituting "adoptee" for "child" in that definition.
(e) "Functioned as a parent of the child" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-115.
(f) "Genetic parent" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-115.
(g) "Gestational child" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-121.
(h) "Relative" has the meaning set forth in section 15-11-115.
(2) Terms of relationship. A class gift that uses a term of relationship to identify the class members includes a child of assisted reproduction, a gestational child, and, except as otherwise provided in subsections (5) and (6) of this section, an adoptee and a child born to parents who are not married to each other, and their respective descendants if appropriate to the class, in accordance with the rules for intestate succession regarding parent-child relationships.
(3) Relatives by marriage. Terms of relationship in a governing instrument that do not differentiate relationships by blood from those by marriage, such as uncles, aunts, nieces, or nephews, standing alone shall be construed to exclude relatives by marriage.
(4) Half-blood relatives. Terms of relationship in a governing instrument that do not differentiate relationships by the halfblood from those by the whole blood, such as brothers, sisters, nieces, or nephews, standing alone shall be construed to include both types of relationships.
(5) Transferor not genetic parent. In construing a dispositive provision of a transferor who is not the genetic parent, a child of a genetic parent is not considered the child of the genetic parent unless the genetic parent, a relative of the genetic parent, or the spouse or surviving spouse of the genetic parent or of a relative of the genetic parent functioned as a parent of the child before the child reached eighteen years of age.
(6) Transferor not adoptive parent. In construing a dispositive provision of a transferor who is not the adoptive parent, an adoptee is not considered the child of the adoptive parent unless:
(a) The adoption took place before the adoptee reached eighteen years of age;
(b) The adoptive parent was the adoptee's stepparent or foster parent; or
(c) The adoptive parent functioned as a parent of the adoptee before the adoptee reached eighteen years of age.
(7) Class-closing rules. The following rules apply for purposes of the class-closing rules:
(a) A child in utero at a particular time is treated as living at that time if the child lives one hundred twenty hours after birth.
(b) If a child of assisted reproduction or a gestational child is conceived posthumously and the distribution date is the deceased parent's death, the child is treated as living on the distribution date if the child lives one hundred twenty hours after birth and was in utero not later than thirty-six months after the deceased parent's death or born not later than forty-five months after the deceased parent's death.
(c) An individual who is in the process of being adopted when the class closes is treated as adopted when the class closes if the adoption is subsequently granted.
