Transfer on death deed in Colorado

Colorado at a glance

TOD deed for real estate

Yes

Name in Colorado law

Beneficiary deed

Law

C.R.S. §§ 15-15-401 to 15-15-415

Notary

Optional (see the signing rule)

Witnesses

None

When to record

Before the death

Where to record

County clerk and recorder of the county where the property is located

After-death document

Certified death certificate (or verification of death) with a supplementary affidavit, recorded as proof of death

Notice to heirs

Not required

Official form

Yes

Your checklist

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Making a valid TOD deed in Colorado

• What the law does. A beneficiary deed recorded before the owner's death passes the owner's interest in Colorado real estate to the named grantee-beneficiary at death.
• Signing. The owner signs as grantor. Notarization is not a condition of validity: the statute says the deed 'may be acknowledged' under the general acknowledgment law (C.R.S. § 38-35-101). A deed acknowledged before a notary in the statutory form is prima facie evidence that it was properly signed, and once recorded, prima facie evidence that it was delivered. The deed must also meet § 38-35-109(2): it must show the grantee-beneficiary's legal address (street address if any), or the clerk and recorder must refuse to record it, although a deed accepted without the address is not invalid. No witnesses. The deed must say 'conveys on death' or 'transfers on death' or otherwise show it takes effect at death. The statute does not state a capacity standard.
• Recording. The deed must be recorded before the owner's death. No deadline after signing. If not recorded before death it does not transfer the property.
• Payment, delivery, acceptance. No consideration needed. No joinder, signature, consent, or notice to the beneficiary needed before the owner's death.
• Form. Statutory forms of beneficiary deed and revocation in C.R.S. §§ 15-15-404 and 15-15-405.

Changing it, and who you can name

• Revoking or changing. Revoke by recording, before death, a signed revocation describing the property (statutory form), or a later beneficiary deed, which revokes all earlier designations. The most recently executed recorded deed or revocation controls regardless of recording order. A will cannot revoke or change it.
• Beneficiaries. One or more persons or entities able to hold title; a successor grantee-beneficiary may be named. Anti-lapse statutes do not apply: if one of several beneficiaries dies first and the deed is silent, that share goes proportionately to the surviving beneficiaries.

After the owner dies

• Document. Certified death certificate (or verification of death) with a supplementary affidavit, recorded as proof of death
• Where. County clerk and recorder of the county where the property is located
• Steps. Proof of the owner's death is made the same way as for a joint tenant: record a certificate of death (or certified copy) with a sworn supplementary affidavit giving the legal description and stating the decedent is the person named in the beneficiary deed. Holders of unrecorded interests must record notice within four months after death or lose them against buyers without notice.

Debts, Medicaid and the spouse

• Creditors and Medicaid. The beneficiary takes subject to all liens and interests of record or known. The interest is subject to Colorado Medicaid (HCPF) estate-recovery claims. As a nonprobate transferee, the beneficiary is liable for allowed claims and spouse/child allowances if the probate estate is short, up to the value received. Creditor claims are barred one year after death; other claims at the earlier of three years after death or one year after the proof of death is recorded.
• Surviving spouse. Statutory allowances to the spouse and children can be enforced against the beneficiary if the probate estate is short. A deed by one joint tenant is effective only if that joint tenant dies last and does not sever the joint tenancy.

Good to know in Colorado

• Medicaid: a person applying for or receiving medical assistance that the state could recover is not eligible while a beneficiary deed is in effect, and the property counts as a resource (C.R.S. § 15-15-403); the statutory form carries this warning.
• A beneficiary deed carries no warranty of title unless it says so.
• A buyer or lender for value without notice from the beneficiary is protected (§ 15-15-410).
• Text taken from the Colorado Revised Statutes 2024 uncertified printout published by the General Assembly; no later amendment to Part 4 was found, but the 2025 printout was not available to confirm.
• A grantee-beneficiary may refuse or disclaim all or part of the property by any method provided by law, and then has no liability as a named beneficiary (§ 15-15-414).
• The statutory form also warns: 'EXECUTION OF THIS BENEFICIARY DEED MAY NOT AVOID PROBATE.' (§ 15-15-404).

Official pages

• Colorado TOD deed form
• Colorado statute
• No TOD deed or other plan? How Colorado handles a small estate without probate →

Sources

• C.R.S. 2024 Title 15 (Part 4 of Article 15, beneficiary deeds; § 15-15-103), Colorado General Assembly (read October 28, 2026)
• C.R.S. 2024 Title 38 (§ 38-31-102 proof of death) (read October 28, 2026)

Legal information from the official sources above, not legal advice. A TOD deed can affect Medicaid, taxes, creditors and co-owners; for a decision about your own property, ask the county recorder, a legal aid office or a lawyer. How we check: methodology.