Colorado § 15-15-407 - Vesting of ownership in grantee-beneficiary.

§ 15-15-407. Vesting of ownership in grantee-beneficiary.

(1) Title to the interest in real property transferred by a beneficiary deed shall vest in the designated grantee-beneficiary only on the death of the owner.

(2) A grantee-beneficiary of a beneficiary deed takes title to the owner's interest in the real property conveyed by the beneficiary deed at the death of the owner subject to all conveyances, encumbrances, assignments, contracts, mortgages, liens, and other interests, affecting title to the property, whether created before or after the recording of the beneficiary deed, or to which the owner was subject during the owner's lifetime including, but not limited to, any executory contract of sale, option to purchase, lease, license, easement, mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien. The grantee-beneficiary also takes title subject to any interest in the property of which the grantee-beneficiary has either actual or constructive notice.

(3) (a) A person having an interest described in subsection (2) of this section whose interest is not recorded in the records of the office of the clerk and recorder of the county in which the property is located at the time of the death of the owner, shall record evidence or a notice of the interest in the property not later than four months after the death of the owner. The notice shall name the person asserting the interest, describe the real property, and describe the nature of the interest asserted.

(b) Failure to record evidence or notice of interest in the property described in subsection (2) of this section within four months after the death of the owner shall forever bar the person from asserting an interest in the property as against all persons who do not have notice of the interest. A person who, without notice, obtains an interest in the property acquired by the grantee-beneficiary shall take the interest free from all persons who have not recorded their notice of interest in the property or evidence of their interest prior to the expiration of the four-month period.

(4) The interest of the grantee-beneficiary shall be subject to any claim of the department of health care policy and financing for recovery of medical assistance payments pursuant to section 25.5-4-301 or 25.5-4-302, C.R.S., which shall be enforced in accordance with section 15-15-103.

(5) The provisions of any anti-lapse statute shall not apply to beneficiary deeds. If one of multiple grantee-beneficiaries fails to survive the owner, and no provision for such contingency is made in the beneficiary deed, the share of the deceased grantee-beneficiary shall be proportionately added to, and pass as a part of, the shares of the surviving grantee-beneficiaries.

Source: L. 2004: Entire part added, p. 730, § 1, effective August 4. L. 2006: (4) amended, p. 2004, § 56, effective July 1. L. 2007: (4) amended, p. 2028, § 31, effective June 1.

ANNOTATION

Section unambiguously provides that a grantee-beneficiary takes title to the property subject to interests that are recorded or that the grantee-beneficiary has notice of prior to decedent's death or within four months after decedent's death. Argo v. Hemphill, 2022 COA 104, 521 P.3d 1080.