Colorado gift deed

What a gift deed does in Colorado

A gift deed transfers property with no money changing hands, and it says so on its face. Stating the donative intent matters: it can support a transfer-tax exemption in states that tax transfers and it documents that the recipient paid nothing, which is exactly what a recorder, an assessor, and later the IRS will want to see. Mechanically it operates like a quitclaim. Immediate, and without title warranties.

A gift deed operates like a quitclaim deed but states that the transfer is a gift. Where transfer tax is based on the price paid, that usually means little or no tax; this state's exemptions are listed on this page.

The Colorado law behind this deed

Colorado has no section written specifically for gift deeds. The instrument runs on the general conveyancing and recording statutes below, which is why the requirements here look like those for any other deed in the state.

When Colorado homeowners use a gift deed

• Give a house or land to a child or grandchild
• Transfer property to a sibling or parent for no payment
• Record that a transfer is a gift, for tax and title records
• Make a charitable gift of real estate

What Colorado requires on the deed

These are the execution and formatting rules county clerks and recorders enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.

How to complete and record it in Colorado

1. 1Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the County Clerk and Recorder can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
2. 2Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
3. 3Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 1-inch first-page margin used for Colorado deeds.
4. 4Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
5. 5No transfer declarationA Real Property Transfer Declaration (Form TD-1000) goes only with a deed that owes Colorado's documentary fee, and a gift deed owes none (C.R.S. §§ 39-13-104(1)(b), 39-14-101(2), 39-14-102(1)(a)).
6. 6Record it with the County Clerk and RecorderFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
7. 7Update insurance and tax recordsA change of ownership can affect your homeowner's policy, your homestead or senior exemption, and in some states the assessed value. Do this within a few weeks.

What it costs in Colorado

Colorado charges a documentary fee of $0.01 per $100 of consideration (0.01%), only when consideration exceeds $500. The fee is paid by whoever offers the deed for recording (C.R.S. § 39-13-102(1)). Colorado's constitution bars new real estate transfer taxes (Colo. Const. art. X, § 20(8)(a)), but towns that already had one still collect it, among them Aspen (1.5%), Telluride (3%), Winter Park (1%), Avon, Breckenridge, Crested Butte, Frisco, Gypsum, Minturn, Ophir, Snowmass Village and Vail. Some towns and owners' associations charge a transfer fee of their own, and some towns must process the deed before it is recorded. Check with the town before you record.

Exemptions that commonly apply to a transfer like this: no consideration, or total consideration of $500 or less, counting any mortgage or other lien on the property (C.R.S. § 39-13-102(2)(a)), gift deeds (§ 39-13-104(1)(b)), deeds that confirm or correct an earlier recorded deed (§ 39-13-104(1)(f)), court decrees or orders that determine or vest title (§ 39-13-104(1)(l)), documents needed to transfer title because an owner died (§ 39-13-104(1)(m)), and deeds that convey only a future interest (§ 39-13-104(1)(k)). You have to claim the exemption. The recorder won't apply it for you.

Where to record it in Colorado

Colorado deeds are recorded with the County Clerk and Recorder in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 64 counties in Colorado.

Many Colorado recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.

Recording offices we cover in Colorado: El Paso, Denver, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Adams, Douglas, Larimer, Weld, Boulder. See all Colorado recording offices.

What a gift deed does NOT do

Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.

• The recipient takes your original cost basis, not the current market value. A later sale can produce a large capital-gains bill that inheriting the property would have avoided.
• A gift over the annual exclusion requires you to file IRS Form 709, even if no tax is due.
• It is irrevocable once delivered and recorded. You can't take the property back if the relationship changes.
• Gifting a property within Medicaid's look-back period can create a penalty period for long-term-care eligibility.

Quirks of Colorado law that catch people out

• Colorado calls a transfer-on-death deed a beneficiary deed (C.R.S. § 15-15-401).
• Colorado bars Medicaid that the state could later claim back, such as long-term care at 55 or older, while the person has a beneficiary deed in effect, and counts the property as a resource (C.R.S. § 15-15-403). Revoke the deed, or get elder-law advice, before applying for long-term care.
• Colorado's documentary fee is one cent per $100 of consideration. It is not charged when there is no consideration or the total, counting any mortgage or other lien on the property, is $500 or less, and gift deeds are exempt (C.R.S. §§ 39-13-102(2), 39-13-104(1)(b)). A family transfer where the grantee takes over the mortgage can owe it. Whoever offers the deed for recording pays it (§ 39-13-102(1)); the statute names neither the grantor nor the grantee.
• Several Colorado resort municipalities impose their own real estate transfer tax of 1–3%. Check the town, not just the county.
• Colorado's statutory warranty deed form under C.R.S. § 38-30-113 carries full covenants in a short form.

How to hold title in Colorado

When two or more people take title in Colorado and the deed says nothing more, the law presumes a tenancy in common, which means no automatic survivorship. If you want the survivor to take the whole property, the words have to be on the deed. Forms of co-ownership available in Colorado: joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenancy in common.