Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, for securities and vehicles. Colorado’s Uniform TOD Security Registration Act, Colorado Revised Statutes sections 15-15-301 to 15-15-311, lets an owner register a security in beneficiary form, and the owner may cancel or change it “without the consent of the beneficiary”. Section 42-6-110.5 separately provides a beneficiary designation form for vehicle titles.
How Colorado handles transfer-on-death registration
| Item | What the state documents say |
|---|---|
| Brokerage and securities accounts | Colorado’s Uniform TOD Security Registration Act is Part 3 of Article 15 of Title 15 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, sections 15-15-301 to 15-15-311. It defines beneficiary form as a registration of a security that shows the present owner and who becomes owner when the owner dies. Registration may be shown by the words transfer on death or the abbreviation TOD, or by pay on death or POD, after the owner’s name. |
| Effect on the will and probate | A transfer on death from a registration in beneficiary form takes effect through the contract between the owner and the registering entity and the Act, not through a will. On the death of the last owner, the security passes to the beneficiaries who survive all owners. If no beneficiary survives, the statute says the security belongs to the estate of the last owner. |
| Changing the beneficiary | The designation has no effect on ownership until the owner’s death, and the sole owner or all surviving owners may cancel or change the registration at any time. The beneficiary has no say while the owner is alive. |
| Vehicle titles | Colorado law directs the Division of Motor Vehicles to make a beneficiary designation form available that lets the owner or joint owners arrange for the vehicle title to pass to a named beneficiary on death. The state’s form is DR 2009. The source says: “D R 2009 Transfer of Title Upon Death Designated Beneficiary form”. The statute calls the transfer a nonprobate transfer, and the owner may revoke or change the beneficiary during life without the beneficiary’s signature. |
| Vehicle transfer is nonprobate | The vehicle statute states that the transfer on death of a vehicle under this section is a nonprobate transfer, and a beneficiary designation may not be changed or revoked by will. The beneficiary presents the form with proof of death to the Division to request a new title, subject to any security interest. |
A $250,000 brokerage account split
An owner holds a brokerage account worth $250,000 and registers it in beneficiary form to two named beneficiaries, with each to receive half. Each share is computed as $250,000 x 50% = $125,000. The 50/50 split is the owner’s illustration, not a rule of the state: the owner names the beneficiaries and, where the form allows it, the shares.
Real estate, probate and estate tax
A transfer on death deed is a different instrument for real property: see Colorado transfer on death deed. For what probate costs in Colorado, see Colorado probate cost, and for Colorado’s own estate or inheritance tax, see Colorado estate and inheritance tax. Which of these your account or vehicle falls under depends on how it is titled.
Related: Colorado probate cost, how Colorado taxes retirement income, Colorado estate and inheritance tax, Colorado transfer on death deed, and car titles after a death, by state.
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Answer againSources
- Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 15, Part 3 Uniform TOD Security Registration Act, sections 15-15-301 to 15-15-311: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-15.pdf
- Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 42, section 42-6-110.5, Certificates of title, transfer of title upon death: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-42.pdf
- DR 2009, State of Colorado Transfer of Title Upon Death Designated Beneficiary Form: https://dmv.colorado.gov/sites/dmv/files/documents/DR2009_1.pdf
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.