How Do I Avoid Probate in Utah?

In Utah, a home with a transfer on death deed, a payable on death account and life insurance with a named beneficiary pass outside probate, as does property in a revocable trust; what is left is the probate estate.

Mark what the owner holds

Utah law says how each asset passes at death. Mark what the owner holds and how each piece is titled to see which pass outside probate and what remains for the probate estate.

Examples:

General information about how each asset passes at death under state law, and what remains for probate, not legal or tax advice. The probate cost figures are the probate cost estimator’s, run at the size of the probate estate. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions.

At a death in Utah, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a p.o.d. account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death.

Utah's nonprobate-transfer statute names an insurance policy: the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary the owner designated, outside probate. A policy with no beneficiary, or one payable to the estate, is part of the probate estate.

An employer plan is governed by federal law: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another. An IRA is the state's: Utah's statute does not name an individual retirement account, so whether it passes to its beneficiary outside probate rests on other law. A retirement account with no beneficiary named is part of the probate estate.

Survivorship title in Utah: Utah owners hold with a right of survivorship as joint tenants; tenants by the entirety and spouses holding title as community property are treated as joint tenants. A grant made on or after May 1, 2024 to two or more persons in their own right is presumed to be a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship unless the grant says otherwise. Utah recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home in the owner's name alone, with no survivor, deed beneficiary or trust, is part of the probate estate.

In Utah, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle. A vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate; one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.

Avoiding Probate in Utah

Probate reaches what a person owned in their own name alone at death, with no survivor, beneficiary or trust named to take it. That is the probate estate, and the will, or the intestacy statute where there is none, governs only that. In Utah an estate under $100,000 may be settled by 1110XX Affidavit for Collecting Personal Property in a Small Estate Proceeding instead of a full probate.

Survivorship title in Utah: Utah owners hold with a right of survivorship as joint tenants; tenants by the entirety and spouses holding title as community property are treated as joint tenants. A grant made on or after May 1, 2024 to two or more persons in their own right is presumed to be a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship unless the grant says otherwise. A home that passes to the surviving owner is outside probate.

Utah recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home retitled to a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms; the deed used is Warranty Deed.

At a death, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a p.o.d. account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death. Sums in a Utah joint account belong to the surviving party unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intention, whether or not the account mentions survivorship. A P.O.D. account passes to the surviving payee.

In Utah a death provision in an insurance policy, employment contract, bond, mortgage, promissory note, deposit agreement, pension plan, trust agreement, conveyance or similar written instrument is nontestamentary, and the money passes to the person it designates. The statute names an insurance policy, so the death benefit is paid to the named beneficiary outside probate. It does not name an individual retirement account. An employer plan is federal: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another.

In Utah, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle; a vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate, and one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated November 1, 2026

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Data sourced from Utah statutes and official state code. How we research.

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