Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Colorado

Re: must will be probated

You don't say whether your mother is in WA or CO, and I can't tell from your question. I can't speak for Colorado law because I'm not licensed there, but here in WA, because the estate is over $60K you will need to put the estate through a probate.

WA does not award a portion of the estate to the state, and probate here can be done in just over four months.

It is not a massively complicated process, but probate is what probate lawyers do, and I can't in good faith encourage you to do it yourself.

And actually, come to think of it, not sure you could. You can always represent yourself in court, but unless you are a lawyer you can't represent somebody else. Your mom's estate is arguably "another person", your sisters are other persons and thus you couldn't represent the estate, the other beneficiaries or the PR.

You might want to look at some of my other answers on estates and probate. I'm a big fan of the Washington probate procedure.

Hope this helps - Elizabeth Powell