Colorado Transfer on Death Deed
A Colorado transfer on death deed, which state law calls a beneficiary deed, names a beneficiary to receive your real property without probate. It must be notarized and recorded with the county clerk and recorder before your death. No witnesses are required. Attorney review available.
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Introduction
A transfer on death deed in Colorado, which the statute calls a beneficiary deed, is a deed you sign and record while you are alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically when you die, without probate (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-401 and following). During your life the deed has no effect on your ownership: it does not transfer any ownership until your death, so you keep full control and can sell, mortgage, or revoke it. To be valid in Colorado, an owner may transfer an interest in real property effective on death by executing a beneficiary deed and recording it prior to the death of the owner in the office of the clerk and recorder in the county where the real property is located (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404(1)). The deed must be acknowledged before a notary (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-406), and Colorado does not require witnesses. There is no fixed deadline after signing, but the statutory form carries the caution that the deed must be recorded prior to the death of the grantor in order to be effective. The deed is revocable during your life by recording a revocation prior to your death (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(1)); a later beneficiary deed revokes prior designations (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(2)), the most recently executed deed or revocation recorded before death controls (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(3)), and a will cannot revoke, alter, or amend it (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(4)). The Colorado statutory form warns that executing the deed may disqualify the grantor from Medicaid under Title 25.5, Colorado Revised Statutes, and that executing the deed may not avoid probate. DocDraft builds your Colorado beneficiary deed from your facts, with attorney review available before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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In Colorado a transfer on death deed is called a beneficiary deed. It is a deed you record while alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically at your death, without probate (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-401 and following).
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During your life the deed has no effect on your ownership. It does not transfer any ownership until your death, so you keep full control and can sell, mortgage, or revoke it.
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To be valid the deed must be acknowledged before a notary (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-406). Colorado does not require any witnesses for a beneficiary deed.
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You must record the deed prior to the death of the owner in the office of the clerk and recorder in the county where the real property is located (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404(1)). There is no fixed deadline after signing, but the statutory form cautions that the deed must be recorded before the grantor death to be effective.
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The deed is revocable during your life by recording a revocation before you die (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(1)). A later beneficiary deed revokes prior designations, the most recently executed deed or revocation recorded before death controls, and a will cannot revoke it (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405).
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The Colorado statutory form warns that executing the beneficiary deed may disqualify the grantor from being determined eligible for, or from receiving, Medicaid under Title 25.5, Colorado Revised Statutes.
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The Colorado statutory form also warns that executing the beneficiary deed may not avoid probate. The beneficiary takes the property subject to any mortgages, liens, and claims that exist on it.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Transfer on Death Deed in Colorado, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Transfer on Death Deed guide walks through them.
Open the Transfer on Death Deed guideCustomize your Transfer on Death Deed Template with DocDraft
Once your Transfer on Death Deed is ready, you can check whether it needs to be notarized in Colorado in about a minute, and notarize it online through DocDraft if it does.
Colorado Requirements for Transfer on Death Deed
Colorado calls this instrument a beneficiary deed and provides a statutory form the deed may follow (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404). The deed must indicate that the transfer is effective on the death of the owner.
The full legal description of the property from the current recorded deed, plus the street address and the parcel or schedule number. A street address alone is not enough to record the deed with the clerk and recorder.
The full legal name of the grantee-beneficiary who will receive the property at the owner death, and a successor if the first does not survive. Naming a successor keeps the property out of probate if the first grantee-beneficiary dies first.
The owner must sign the deed and have the signature acknowledged before a notary (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-406). Without a valid acknowledgment the deed cannot be recorded and is not effective.
Colorado does not require witnesses for a beneficiary deed. Acknowledgment before a notary is the execution formality, unlike some states that require two witnesses.
The deed must be recorded prior to the death of the owner in the office of the clerk and recorder in the county where the real property is located (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404(1)). There is no fixed deadline after signing, so record it promptly.
A revocation must be recorded prior to death to be effective (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(1)). A later beneficiary deed revokes prior designations, the most recently executed deed or revocation recorded before death controls, and a will cannot revoke it (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405).
The Colorado statutory form warns that executing the deed may disqualify the grantor from Medicaid under Title 25.5, C.R.S., and that it may not avoid probate (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404). Confirm how the deed affects public benefits before you sign.
Does your Transfer on Death Deed need to be notarized in Colorado?
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Check my Transfer on Death DeedFrequently Asked Questions
In Colorado it is called a beneficiary deed. It is a deed you sign and record while you are alive that names a beneficiary to receive your real property automatically when you die, without probate (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-401 and following). During your lifetime it does not transfer any ownership: you keep full control and can sell or revoke it, and the beneficiary has no interest until you die. It passes only the property described in the deed.
A Colorado will directs who inherits your property, but the property still passes through probate, the court process that can take months. A Colorado beneficiary deed passes the specific real property it names directly to the beneficiary at your death, outside probate. The will covers your whole estate; the beneficiary deed covers only the real property it describes. Many Coloradans use both, so the deed handles the property and the will handles everything else.
To be valid in Colorado you must execute a beneficiary deed that indicates the transfer is effective on your death, have it acknowledged before a notary (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-406), and record it prior to your death in the office of the clerk and recorder in the county where the property is located (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404(1)). Colorado does not require witnesses. Recording it while you are alive is what makes it effective.
No witnesses are required in Colorado; the deed must be acknowledged before a notary, not witnessed. There is also no fixed number of days to record after signing. The statutory form cautions that the deed must be recorded prior to the death of the grantor in order to be effective (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404), so recording promptly after you sign is the safe practice.
You record a Colorado beneficiary deed in the office of the clerk and recorder in the county where the real property is located, and you must do so prior to your death (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404(1)). If the property sits in more than one county, record it in each county where part of the property is located. The clerk and recorder charges a recording fee that varies by county.
Yes. A Colorado beneficiary deed is revocable while you are alive. You revoke it by recording an instrument that describes the property and revokes the deed, prior to your death (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(1)). A later beneficiary deed revokes prior designations (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(2)), and the most recently executed deed or revocation recorded before your death controls (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(3)). A will cannot revoke, alter, or amend it (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-405(4)).
Possibly. The Colorado statutory beneficiary deed form carries a warning that executing the deed may disqualify the grantor from being determined eligible for, or from receiving, Medicaid under Title 25.5, Colorado Revised Statutes (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404). Colorado also has a separate Medicaid eligibility provision at Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-403. Because this touches public benefits, you should confirm how the deed affects your situation, and attorney review is available.
Not necessarily. The Colorado statutory form itself warns that executing a beneficiary deed may not avoid probate (Colo. Rev. Stat. 15-15-404). The deed passes only the specific real property it names, and only if it is recorded before your death and a named beneficiary survives you. It does not clear debts or liens on the property, and it does not cover your other assets. For a full plan, a will or trust may still be needed, and attorney review is available.