Estate Planning After Divorce in Colorado: What to Update

Colorado's automatic revocation statute (C.R.S. § 15-11-804) provides a safety net — when your divorce is finalized, it revokes your ex-spouse from most estate planning documents automatically. But relying on that safety net is a gamble. Some instruments are not covered, the statute has exceptions, and a clean estate plan reflects your actual wishes rather than statutory defaults.

What C.R.S. § 15-11-804 Does Automatically

The moment your Decree of Dissolution is entered, the statute automatically revokes your ex-spouse (and their relatives) from:

• Wills — any bequest to your ex is treated as if they predeceased you
• Revocable trusts — provisions naming your ex are void
• Powers of attorney — both financial and medical POAs naming your ex are revoked
• POD/TOD accounts — payable-on-death and transfer-on-death designations
• Individual life insurance beneficiary designations

The statute also severs any joint tenancy with right of survivorship, converting your shared property interests to a tenancy in common (each person owns their share independently, with no automatic inheritance).

What It Does NOT Cover

The auto-revocation does not apply to:

• ERISA-governed employer benefits — 401(k), 403(b), employer group life insurance, and employer pension beneficiary designations are controlled by federal law, which preempts state divorce-revocation statutes (confirmed in Ragan v. Ragan, 2021 COA 75)
• Irrevocable trusts — once established, these are not modified by divorce
• Legal separation (as opposed to full dissolution) — the statute only triggers on a final divorce decree
• Documents that explicitly state otherwise — if a contract or governing instrument says provisions survive divorce, the statute does not override that language

What You Should Update Immediately

Even where the auto-revocation applies, execute new documents:

Will. Draft a new will naming your current beneficiaries — children, siblings, parents, a new partner, or a charity. A will that says "everything to my ex" but is saved by the statute means your assets pass under intestacy rules (Colorado's default hierarchy), which may not match your wishes.

Powers of attorney. Execute a new durable financial power of attorney and a new medical power of attorney (advance directive) naming someone you trust. If your ex was your agent and you become incapacitated before executing a new POA, there is a gap where no one has legal authority to act for you.

Revocable living trust. If you have one, amend it or restate it entirely. Remove your ex as trustee, successor trustee, and beneficiary. Update the distribution terms to reflect your post-divorce family structure.

Beneficiary forms on employer plans. These must be manually updated by submitting new forms to your HR department. C.R.S. § 15-11-804 does not protect you here — ERISA controls, and the plan administrator will pay whoever is named on the form.

POD/TOD accounts. Update bank and brokerage account beneficiary designations even though the statute technically revokes them. An explicit named beneficiary is clearer than a statutory default.

The Interim Risk

Between the date your divorce is finalized and the date you execute new documents, there is a vulnerability window. If something happens to you during that gap:

• Your employer benefits (401(k), group life) still name your ex
• You may have no valid financial or medical power of attorney in place
• Your assets may pass under intestacy rules instead of your preferred distribution

Minimize this window. Have new estate planning documents drafted and signed within the first 30 days after your decree is entered.

The Colorado After-Divorce Checklist includes an estate-plan overhaul checklist covering wills, trusts, POAs, beneficiary forms, and the specific accounts where auto-revocation does and does not apply.

See more Colorado guides →