Intestate Rules for Non-Married Individuals In Colorado
Singles (aka non-married individuals) often procrastinate about estate planning. If you are one of my friends or colleagues who fall into this category here is a brief summary of who will inherit your assets should something happen to you. By taking the mystery out of what happens I am hoping to alleviate some of the worry and maybe even encourage some proactivity in this regard.
Colorado's intestacy rules are similar to the rules found in other states but don't provide for inheritances by remote relatives, such as distant cousins. State laws set the inheritance rules for the estate of a person who died intestate; however, these rules don't take the financial needs of his heirs into consideration.
If a non-married individual dies with children, their children inherit their estate. If a non-married individual dies with no children then surviving parents inherit his/her entire estate. If both parents are dead, the estate goes to the parents' surviving descendants: for example, the siblings of the deceased person. Surviving grandparents may inherit the estate if the parents have no surviving descendants. If both grandparents are dead, their surviving descendants inherit the estate. In cases where the deceased person's parents and grandparents left no surviving descendants, the estate may go to the state of Colorado.
Colorado's laws allow inheritances by a birth parent who adopted out the deceased person or any birth children the deceased person put up for adoption, but only to prevent the estate from going to Colorado because of a lack of heirs.
Not all property is subject to Colorado intestacy rules, some of it if properly designated/titled can pass out of these intestate rules. Money from retirement accounts, such as 401(k) accounts, and insurance plans go to the person named as the beneficiary on the account or plan paperwork. Property owned with another person as a joint tenant —the family home, for example—belongs to the surviving owner. Any property transferred to a living trust belongs to the trust and isn't subject to intestacy laws. Bank accounts that have another person designated to receive the funds if the account holder dies—known as "payable on death" accounts—pass to that designated person.
