beneficiary designation
Reviewed by Owen Hathaway, AttorneyUpdated June 4, 2026An instruction on an account or policy naming who receives it at death. It passes outside probate and overrides what a will says.
A beneficiary designation is a contract-based instruction (on a life insurance policy, retirement account, or payable-on-death/transfer-on-death account) naming who receives the asset when the owner dies. The asset passes directly to that person by operation of the contract.
Because these assets pass outside probate, a beneficiary designation controls regardless of what a will or trust says. Outdated or missing designations are a frequent source of unintended results and are a core part of coordinating an estate plan.
Both Colorado and Wyoming honor POD/TOD designations on accounts and allow transfer-on-death (beneficiary) deeds for real estate (Colorado: C.R.S. § 15-15-401 et seq.). Designations should be reviewed whenever a trust is created so they coordinate with the overall plan.
Related terms
- probateThe court-supervised process of proving a will, paying a deceased person's debts, and transferring what's left to the heirs or beneficiaries.
- revocable living trustA trust created while you are alive that you can change or cancel at any time. It holds your assets so they can pass to the people you choose without probate, and lets a person you name step in to manage things if you become unable to.
- willA signed, witnessed document that says who gets a person's probate property after death and names an executor to carry it out. It takes effect only at death and only after probate.