Joint tenancy needs express language — strictly enforced
Under C.R.S. § 38-31-101, no conveyance or devise of real property to two or more people creates a joint tenancy unless the deed or will expressly declares it. Colorado courts have taken this seriously: even a will leaving property to two people "jointly and severally," without expressly choosing joint tenancy, was held to create only a tenancy in common. See our full breakdown of Colorado joint tenancy rules, including a 2008 law that reinstated a stricter common-law test after courts had drifted toward a looser one.
One of the oldest beneficiary deed laws, with two built-in warnings
Colorado's beneficiary deed, enacted in 2004, was one of the earliest such laws in the country. But its own statutory form is required to carry two warnings printed directly on the document: that execution may disqualify the grantor from Medicaid, and that execution may not avoid probate. See our full guide to the Colorado beneficiary deed for why that second warning exists — it comes down to how the deed interacts with an existing joint tenancy.
Bank accounts can go either way
Under C.R.S. § 15-15-212, a multiple-party account can be set up either with or without a right of survivorship. For an account with survivorship, sums on deposit at a party's death belong to the surviving party or parties. See our guide to Colorado beneficiary and P.O.D. accounts.
Where this feeds into other Colorado calculators
The probate-estate total from this tool is the starting point for Colorado's probate cost and executor fee calculators, and for checking Colorado's small estate affidavit. Colorado has no state estate or inheritance tax, so this total doesn't feed into a separate state tax calculation.