Colo. Rev. Stat. » Title 15
Colorado Revised Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-511 (2024)

Testamentary additions to trusts

✓ C.R.S. 2024: the 2025 and 2026 sessions are not included
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(1) A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established (i) during the testator's lifetime by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person, including a funded or unfunded life insurance trust, although the settlor has reserved any or all rights of ownership of the insurance contracts, or (ii) at the testator's death by the testator's devise to the trustee, if the trust is identified in the testator's will and its terms are set forth in a written instrument, other than a will, executed before, concurrently with, or after the execution of the testator's will or in another individual's will if that other individual has predeceased the testator, regardless of the existence, size, or character of the corpus of the trust. The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable, or because the trust was amended after the execution of the will or the testator's death.

(2) Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, property devised to a trust described in subsection (1) of this section is not held under a testamentary trust of the testator, but it becomes a part of the trust to which it is devised, and is administered and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the governing instrument setting forth the terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto made before or after the testator's death.

(3) A revocation or termination of the trust before the death of the testator causes the devise to lapse, but exhaustion of trust corpus between the time of execution of the testator's will and the testator's death shall not constitute a lapse; a revocation or termination of the trust before the death of the testator shall not cause the devise to lapse, if the testator provides that, in such event, the devise shall constitute a devise to the trustee of the trust identified in the testator's will, and on the terms thereof, as they existed at the time of the execution of testator's will, or as they existed at the time of the revocation or termination of the trust, as the testator's will provides.

Source: L. 94: Entire part R&RE, p. 1001, § 3, effective July 1, 1995.

Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 15-11-511 as it existed prior to 1995.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases, 1981–2009 · leading case: In re Est. of Mccreath, 240 P.3d 413 (Colo. Ct. App. 2009).
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In re Est. of Mccreath, 240 P.3d 413 (Colo. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 5× “Further, section 15-11-511, C.R.S.2009, addresses the termination of a trust prior to death and some aspects of the interplay between a will and an inter vivos trust, but makes no provision for the revocation of an inter vivos trust by will.”
Matter of Est. of Daniels, 643 P.2d 788 (Colo. Ct. App. 1982). · cites it 2× “The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable during the settlor's lifetime, § 15-11-511(1), C.R.S. 1973. Nor did the trust terminate and the devise lapse when, on the death of the settlor/testatrix, there was no surviving trustee who had signed the trust…”
Ayres v. King, 643 P.2d 788 (Colo. Ct. App. 1981). · cites it 2× “The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable during the settlor’s lifetime, § 15-11-511(1), C.R.S. 1973. Nor did the trust terminate and the devise lapse when, on the death of the settlor/testatrix, there was no surviving trustee who had signed the trust…”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-511(1): 2 cases
Matter of Est. of Daniels, 643 P.2d 788 (Colo. Ct. App. 1982). “The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable during the settlor's lifetime, § 15-11-511(1), C.R.S. 1973. Nor did the trust terminate and the devise lapse when, on the death of the settlor/testatrix, there was no surviving trustee who had signed the trust…”
Ayres v. King, 643 P.2d 788 (Colo. Ct. App. 1981). “The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable or revocable during the settlor’s lifetime, § 15-11-511(1), C.R.S. 1973. Nor did the trust terminate and the devise lapse when, on the death of the settlor/testatrix, there was no surviving trustee who had signed the trust…”
Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-511(3): 1 case
In re Est. of Mccreath, 240 P.3d 413 (Colo. Ct. App. 2009). “Further, section 15-11-511, C.R.S.2009, addresses the termination of a trust prior to death and some aspects of the interplay between a will and an inter vivos trust, but makes no provision for the revocation of an inter vivos trust by will.”
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