Colorado Designated Beneficiary

A designated beneficiary agreement (DBA) is a legal document available only in Colorado that allows any two unmarried individuals to designate each other for one or more important purposes, such as medical decision making and inheritance. The two people do not need to live together or be in an intimate relationship. Although it is not limited to same-sex couples, the 2009 act creating designated beneficiaries was the first Colorado law that did extend a limited set of legal rights to same-sex couples.

Both parties to a DBA must be 18 years or older, competent to contract, unmarried, and not already a party to a DBA. The parties must sign the agreement voluntarily. There are 16 possible legal rights that the parties to a DBA may select. ...