2020 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 15 - Probate, Trusts, And Fiduciaries
Article 23. Colorado Electronic Preservation of Abandoned Estate Planning Documents Act
Section 15-23-102. Legislative declaration.
[Editor's note: This section is effective January 1, 2023.] (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
Abandoned original estate planning documents are in the custody of professionals who areunable to locate the creators of the documents;
Creating a central repository for these documents would be in the best interests of the custodians and creators of these documents and the creators' representatives who may later be in need of the documents;
The judicial department is an appropriate repository for the documents;
Economics dictate and technology permits conversion of original estate planning documentsinto electronic versions of the originals as reliable substitutes for the originals; and
Custodians are in the best position to certify the authenticity of original estate planning documents before their conversion to electronic format and filing with the judicial department.
(2) Therefore, the general assembly declares that:
Public policy of this state should encourage a custodian of an abandoned original estateplanning document to certify the document as such and, after making a good-faith effort to locate the creator of the document, convert it to an electronic format and file the electronic record of the document with the judicial department;
The judicial department should maintain the electronic record of each document filed with itunder this article 23 and furnish a certified copy thereof to individuals and entities reasonably entitled thereto upon proof of identity and entitlement;
A certified copy of an electronic record maintained in the judicial department should beaccorded the same status as the abandoned original estate planning document; and
It is the intent of the general assembly that this article 23 be liberally construed to give effectto the purposes stated in this article 23.
Source: L. 2019: Entire article added, (HB 19-1229), ch. 252, p. 2432, § 1, effective January 1, 2023.
