Payable-on-Death Deposit-Account Beneficiary Rules in Colorado
At a glance
| Accounts covered | Checking, savings, certificates of deposit, and share accounts at banks, savings institutions, and credit unions (§ 15-15-201). |
|---|---|
| How the POD designation is made | Terms of the deposit account may designate POD beneficiaries; § 15-15-204 supplies a substantial-form model but also recognizes another form reflecting depositor intent (§§ 15-15-201, 15-15-203, 15-15-204). |
| Who may be named | One or more persons named for payment after all parties die; a minor beneficiary may be paid through the transfers-to-minors procedure (§§ 15-15-201, 15-15-225). |
| Owner and beneficiary rights before death | Parties own according to net contributions absent clear and convincing contrary intent; a POD beneficiary has no present right (§ 15-15-211). |
| Joint owner's priority over payee | Surviving account parties take before POD beneficiaries; a multiple-party account without survivorship cannot make an effective POD designation (§ 15-15-212). |
| If a payee dies first | A beneficiary must survive the last party; surviving named beneficiaries take, and if none survives the last party’s estate takes. Anti-lapse statutes do not apply (§ 15-15-212). |
| Shares among surviving payees | Survivors take the proportions in the POD designation or equal undivided shares; a deceased payee’s portion is reallocated proportionately to surviving payees. No later survivorship among payees (§ 15-15-212). |
| Changing the designation or using a will | A party may alter account type or stop or vary payment by signed written notice received by the institution during life; a will cannot alter POD rights (§ 15-15-213). |
| Proof, payment, and bank discharge | Institution may pay a beneficiary on request with proof of survival of all parties; qualifying payment discharges it, except after timely written stop notice, while beneficial-ownership disputes remain separate (§§ 15-15-223, 15-15-226). |
Requirements one by one
Accounts and designation
Colorado’s “account” definition covers checking, savings, certificates of deposit, and share accounts (§ 15-15-201). The financial-institution definition includes banks, savings institutions, and credit unions (§ 15-15-201); they follow this same multiple-person-account part. A POD designation names a beneficiary in the account terms for payment after the sole party or all parties die (§ 15-15-201). The uniform form in § 15-15-204(1) includes single-party and multiple-party POD choices. The statute also recognizes another form by the account type that most nearly conforms to the depositor’s intent (§§ 15-15-203, 15-15-204(2)). The business and separate fiduciary accounts listed in § 15-15-202 are outside this part.
Rights during life and after death
During the parties’ lives, beneficial ownership follows net contributions unless clear and convincing evidence shows a different intent; a POD beneficiary has no right to the balance (§ 15-15-211). A surviving joint party takes before a POD beneficiary under § 15-15-212(2)(a). The designation on a multiple-party account without a right of survivorship is ineffective (§ 15-15-212(3)).
When the sole or last party dies, surviving beneficiaries take the balance (§ 15-15-212(2)(b)(I)). If several survive, the designation sets their proportions; absent specified proportions, they take equal undivided shares, with no later right of survivorship among them. If a named beneficiary dies before the last party, the surviving beneficiaries divide that interest in proportion to their interests (§ 15-15-212(2)(b)(II)). If none survives, the account belongs to the last party’s estate (§ 15-15-212(2)(b)(III)). Section 15-15-212(2)(b)(IV) excludes the anti-lapse statutes from POD accounts, so a deceased beneficiary’s descendants do not substitute through those statutes. A minor may be a beneficiary; § 15-15-225 allows payment under the Colorado Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.
Changes and institution payment
A party may change the account type or stop or vary payment through signed written notice received by the institution during the party’s lifetime (§ 15-15-213(1)). A will cannot alter a POD designation (§ 15-15-213(2)). On request, an institution may pay beneficiaries after proof of death shows they survived all account parties; if the deceased party outlived everyone named, it may pay the personal representative or, if none, heirs or devisees on the required proof (§ 15-15-223).
The statute separates beneficial ownership among parties and beneficiaries from the institution's duty to pay under account terms (§ 15-15-206). Payment according to account type discharges the institution even if beneficial ownership among claimants differs (§ 15-15-226(1)). Its protection can end after timely written notice to stop payment from the listed persons; it may refuse payment when it has that notice or reason to believe a dispute exists (§ 15-15-226(2)-(3)). The payment protection does not decide beneficial ownership disputes (§ 15-15-226(4)).
What trips people up
A POD box on a joint account does not overcome a no-survivorship account choice: § 15-15-212(3) expressly makes that designation ineffective. The uniform form in § 15-15-204 illustrates the choices, while § 15-15-204(2) can recognize a different form reflecting depositor intent.
If one POD beneficiary dies before the owner, § 15-15-212(2)(b)(II) reallocates that interest to the surviving named beneficiaries. It does not create a substitute gift to that deceased beneficiary’s descendants; § 15-15-212(2)(b)(IV) expressly excludes anti-lapse statutes.
Common questions
Can an owner change the POD designation by will? No. Section 15-15-213(2) bars a will from altering it; § 15-15-213(1) describes a signed notice received during the party’s life.
Must two beneficiaries always take equal shares? No. Section 15-15-212(2)(b)(I) follows proportions specified in the POD designation and uses equal undivided shares only without different proportions.
Does the bank’s payment settle a family dispute over ownership? No. Section 15-15-226(1) protects qualifying payments, and subsection (4) preserves ownership disputes among parties and successors.
Statutes and sources
The verbatim statutory passages and official 2026 Title 15 PDF URL appear above; accessed October 8, 2026.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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