During law school, Marco D. Chayet’s grandmother, Letty Milstein, was the principal party in one of the most controversial and public elder law cases in the state of Colorado. Estate of Milstein v. Ayers, 955 P.2d 78 (Colo. App. 1998), is a landmark probate case that upholds and protects the right to counsel and due process of incapacitated adults in Colorado and has been codified into the Colorado Uniform Protective Proceedings Act. This experience was the impetus for Mr. Chayet’s career-long practice commitment to the fields of elder law, special needs law, fiduciary law and probate litigation.
Mr. Chayet is the founder and managing partner of Chayet & Danzo, LLC. and ColoradoElderLaw.com. Mr. Chayet is also the Public Administrator of the 18th Judicial District, serving as a fiduciary for the counties of Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln. Mr. Chayet is the past chairman of the Elder Law Section of the Colorado Bar Association and the current Elder Law Section delegate to the Colorado Bar Association Board of Governors. Mr. Chayet is a 2020-2021 Colorado Super Lawyer in Elder Law, a 2020 and 2021 Top 100 Super Lawyer in Colorado, Law Week Colorado’s 2020 and 2017 Barristers Best Trusts/Estates lawyer and is a dual award winner by 5280 Magazine as both a top elder law attorney and probate litigator for 2021.
Mr. Chayet’s experience in his areas of practice have been demonstrated through frequent CLE lectures in Colorado and around the country and publishing, including his book, “How to Protect Your Family’s Assets from Devastating Nursing Home Costs – Colorado Edition,” and the chapter on “Estate Planning for the Child with Special Needs” in the 4th Edition of Elder Law in Colorado by CBA-CLE.
In 2017 Colorado Governor (now Senator) John Hickenlooper appointed Mr. Chayet as the gubernatorial attorney Commissioner for the Colorado Office of Public Guardian. Mr. Chayet is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Colorado School of Law and teaches Elder Law. Mr. Chayet is a member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, where the Academy asked Mr. Chayet to serve on various committees as well as serving as the president of the Colorado Chapter of NAELA. Mr. Chayet continues to be an active member of the Colorado Bar Association assisting with drafting various rules and statutes for Colorado probate practice as well as being a Colorado Supreme Court appointee to the Attorney Disciplinary Hearing Board.
Mr. Chayet, born and raised in Denver, Colorado, is continuing in the footsteps of his family in assisting the philanthropic and civic community of Colorado by serving as the first Board Chair of The NextFifty Initiative, a $200million dollar foundation funded in 2016 that will fund grants for aging issues as well as having served on the board and committees of many not-for-profit organizations, including the Rose Community Foundation, Innovage Foundation, Jewish Family Services, Allied Jewish Apartments, Jewish Senior Recreation Network, the Foundation for Hope, and the Life Source Services Hospice.
Mr. Chayet received his Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law. Mr. Chayet’s undergraduate training was at the University of California at Berkeley and at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he received his Bachelor of Arts.(Also at Edwards Office)
