Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Colorado has this instrument and calls it a beneficiary deed. It must be recorded before you die. And Colorado has a provision almost nothing written for a national audience mentions: having one in effect can disqualify you from Medicaid.
The core rule
In addition to any method allowed by law to effect a transfer at death, title to an interest in real property may be transferred on the death of the owner by recording, prior to the owner’s death, a beneficiary deed signed by the owner of such interest, as grantor, designating a grantee-beneficiary of the interest.
— C.R.S. § 15-15-402 (Real property, beneficiary deed)
The deed must contain words such as “conveys on death” or “transfers on death”, or otherwise indicate that the transfer takes effect at death, and must be recorded before death with the clerk and recorder in the county where the property sits.
The Medicaid provision — and it runs the opposite way to the assumption
People often reach for a beneficiary deed believing it shelters a home from Medicaid. In Colorado the statute does the reverse:
No person who is an applicant for or recipient of medical assistance for which it would be permissible for the department of health care policy and financing to assert a claim pursuant to section 25.5-4-301 or 25.5-4-302, C.R.S., shall be entitled to such medical assistance if the person has in effect a beneficiary deed. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 15-15-402 (1), the execution of a beneficiary deed by an applicant for or recipient of medical assistance as described in this section shall cause the property to be considered a countable resource in accordance with section 25.5-4-302 (6), C.R.S., and applicable rules.
— C.R.S. § 15-15-403 (Medicaid eligibility exclusion)
Read that twice. Executing a beneficiary deed causes the property to be treated as a countable resource rather than an exempt one. For someone applying for or receiving long-term-care medical assistance in Colorado, the deed is not a shelter — it is a liability, and section 15-15-403 says so directly.
If Medicaid is any part of why you are considering this, that is the sentence to take to a Colorado elder-law attorney before recording anything.
Revocation cannot be done by will
Colorado’s section 15-15-405 is headed revocation, change, revocation by will prohibited. A later will does not undo a recorded beneficiary deed — a common and expensive assumption.
Read the Medicaid provision above before you buy anything
C.R.S. section 15-15-403 says a person who has a beneficiary deed in effect is not entitled to medical assistance, and that executing one causes the property to be treated as a countable resource. If long term care Medicaid is any part of your reason for wanting this deed, the deed works against you, and the next step is a Colorado elder law attorney rather than any form. If Medicaid is not in the picture, LawDepot builds this deed, using the general transfer on death deed name for what Colorado calls a beneficiary deed, and recording it before death with the county clerk and recorder is what makes it work.
LawDepot prices a single document at $7.50 to $119, and its category subscriptions start at $107.88 a year, with the all-documents plan at $155.88 a year (LawDepot pricing page, read 2026-09-02).
Create a transfer on death deed
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link, and it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
What a transfer on death deed does not do
- It moves one parcel, not an estate. It avoids probate on that property. Bank accounts, vehicles and everything else are untouched, so it is not a substitute for a will.
- It does not take effect until death, so the owner keeps full control — and can sell, mortgage or revoke without the beneficiary’s agreement or knowledge.
- It does not clear debts. A mortgage, lien or judgment against the property passes with it.
- It does not decide what happens if the beneficiary dies first. That is governed by statute and is one of the most common surprises.
Honest gaps
We have quoted C.R.S. §§ 15-15-402, 15-15-403 and 15-15-404, and read the heading of 15-15-405. Sections on acknowledgment, vesting, joint tenancy and protections for purchasers were read only as section headings and are not described in detail here. The Medicaid interaction is quoted because it is statutory; how it applies to a particular application is not something this page can tell you. This is the statute, not legal advice. Deed drafting, title and recording practice vary by county, and a property with a mortgage, co-owners or a disputed title is one to take to a lawyer in the state.
Source note. Beneficiary deed text read from https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_15-15-402 and the Medicaid provision from https://colorado.public.law/statutes/crs_15-15-403, both read 2026-09-03.
Related: transfer on death deeds by state · how it compares with a living trust · what it actually avoids.
General information drawn from state statutes and official state or court forms, not legal advice. These instruments are governed by the law of the state where the property sits or the document is signed, and formalities differ from state to state — execution, witnessing and recording requirements are the parts that void a document when they are missed. Your own state’s current statute governs.
A transfer-on-death deed keeps one asset out of probate; whether the rest of the estate has to go through it is a separate test, and the answer is on when probate is required in Colorado, which gives Colorado’s qualifying value for the small-estate route and what that route does not reach.