State Unemployment Benefits in Colorado
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment administers unemployment insurance through the MyUI+ system. Colorado publishes no separate procedure for a claimant who dies: benefits are paid only for weeks the claimant personally certified and requested payment, and survivors take any remaining question about a claim to the Claimant Service Center.
Administering agency
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — Division of Unemployment Insurance
State Unemployment Benefits in Colorado: key facts
- Administering agency
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), Division of Unemployment Insurance.
- Claimant portal
- MyUI+ at cdle.colorado.gov/ui/claimants/myui — where a claimant certifies weeks and requests payment.
- Phone
- Claimant Service Center: 303-318-9000 (Denver metro) or 1-800-388-5515 toll-free. Spanish: 303-318-9333 or 1-866-422-0402. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM.
- After a death
- CDLE publishes no deceased-claimant procedure, and Colorado's Employment Security Act has no provision paying a deceased claimant's benefits to survivors or the estate. Contact the Claimant Service Center about an open claim.
- Unpaid final wages (not UI)
- Separately from unemployment insurance, if an employer owed the deceased wages or compensation at death and no personal representative has been appointed, the employer pays the earned, vested, and determinable amount to the surviving spouse — or, if none, to the next legal heir on request (C.R.S. 8-4-109(4)). The employer requires proof of the claimant's relationship by affidavit, and payment discharges the employer's debt.
Steps to take when someone dies
- Contact the Colorado Division of Unemployment Insurance Claimant Service Center at 303-318-9000 about the deceased's open claim.
- Expect no survivor payout of the unemployment claim itself: benefits are paid only for weeks the claimant certified and requested through MyUI+, and Colorado law provides no survivor or estate successor to a UI claim.
- Pursue any unpaid final wages from the employer under C.R.S. 8-4-109(4), which routes them to the surviving spouse or next legal heir when no personal representative has been appointed.
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — Division of Unemployment Insurance
Phone: 303-318-9000
Visit the agency website →Frequently asked questions
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment administers unemployment insurance through its Division of Unemployment Insurance and the MyUI+ portal at cdle.colorado.gov/ui/claimants/myui. The Claimant Service Center is 303-318-9000, or 1-800-388-5515 toll-free.
Colorado does not publish a deceased-claimant procedure, and the Colorado Employment Security Act contains no provision paying a deceased claimant's benefits to survivors or the estate. Benefits are paid only for weeks the claimant personally certified and requested payment through MyUI+. Contact the Claimant Service Center at 303-318-9000 about an open claim.
Yes, but that is a wage claim rather than an unemployment claim. Under C.R.S. 8-4-109(4), if an employer owed the deceased wages at death and no personal representative has been appointed, the employer pays the earned, vested, and determinable amount to the surviving spouse, or to the next legal heir if there is no spouse. The employer requires proof of the relationship by affidavit.
Sources
Data sourced from State Unemployment Benefits in Colorado primary sources (4 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — Division of Unemployment Insurance