Cheyenne · Laramie County · Wyoming · (307) 333-7539
Someone you love has died, and now there are letters from the bank, a truck title, and maybe a mineral check that stopped coming. You have been told it all has to go through probate. It may not.
Since July 1, 2025, a Wyoming estate worth up to $400,000 can pass without full probate. Many families do not know that and are paying for an administration the law no longer requires. When full probate is needed, or a will is contested, Deep Waters Law handles that too, in Cheyenne, Laramie County, and across the state.
Three ways an estate passes in Wyoming
The Wyoming Probate Code, Title 2, provides three routes. Which one applies depends mostly on what the estate is worth and what it contains.
1. Distribution by affidavit (§ 2-1-201)
When the Wyoming estate subject to administration, less liens, is worth $400,000 or less and thirty days have passed since the death, the heirs present a sworn affidavit to whoever holds the property: a bank, a brokerage, an employer, the holder of a vehicle title. The holder must pay or deliver it. No court, no personal representative, no publication. The affidavit covers personal property, accounts, and debts owed to the decedent. It does not transfer real estate.
2. Summary distribution by decree (§ 2-1-205)
For estates at or under the same $400,000 line that include real estate or mineral interests. The heirs file an application in district court with a sworn report of value; a broker’s price opinion is enough. Notice is published once a week for two weeks and mailed to the spouse, the other heirs, and known creditors. If no one objects, the court enters a decree establishing title, recorded in every county where the land or minerals lie. The process usually takes six to ten weeks. In a state where many families hold a small mineral interest somewhere, this procedure is used constantly and understood rarely.
3. Formal probate
Above $400,000, or where the estate is contested, insolvent, or complicated, the estate is administered through district court. The court admits the will or finds there is none, appoints a personal representative, and issues letters. Notice is published once a week for three weeks. Creditors then have three months from the first publication to file claims or be barred, and anyone contesting the will has the same three months. The representative inventories assets, pays valid claims and taxes, accounts to the court, and distributes under a final decree. An uncontested formal probate runs six months to a year.
The July 2025 change
Senate File 104, effective July 1, 2025, doubled the threshold for the affidavit, the summary decree, and the waiver of ancillary probate for nonresidents, from $200,000 to $400,000. If a relative died in the last year and someone told you probate was unavoidable, that advice may have been correct then and wrong now.
Out-of-state decedents with Wyoming property
Wyoming minerals, ranchland, and recreational property belong in large numbers to people who died in other states. Their home-state probate does not transfer Wyoming real property; a Wyoming proceeding does. Under § 2-11-201, if the Wyoming property is worth $400,000 or less and the estate has been settled elsewhere, Wyoming probate can be waived by petition and three weeks’ published notice. Above that, an ancillary administration is required. A title company will not close on inherited Wyoming land, and mineral operators will hold royalties, until one of these orders is in the chain of title.
What a personal representative has to do
The representative is a fiduciary, personally accountable to the heirs and the court: secure and inventory the assets, publish and mail creditor notices on time, pay or reject claims, keep estate funds separate, file the final tax returns, account for every dollar, and distribute only with court authority. Most probate litigation in Wyoming starts with a representative who treated the estate as family money rather than trust money: distributing early, paying a favored creditor, or simply stopping. A representative who wants to do it right needs a lawyer at the start, not after the first objection.
Will contests and estate disputes
A will can be challenged for lack of capacity, undue influence, improper signing, or fraud, and the challenge must be filed within three months of the first published notice or it is barred. Disputes also arise over what a will means, a later handwritten change, accounts whose beneficiary designations contradict the will, and the representative’s conduct. These are tried to the court on evidence, and the side that arrives with the medical records, the drafting attorney’s file, and the financial history usually wins. An estate dispute is a trial.
Estates on the Wind River Reservation
Trust land and restricted property of tribal members is probated through the federal Office of Hearings and Appeals, not the state courts. Other property may fall under the Wind River Tribal Court. Estates that mix reservation and off-reservation assets require both systems to be handled together. See our Tribal Court page.
Why this firm
Francis H. McVay is a trial and appellate lawyer. He has prosecuted cases, defended them, and argued before the Wyoming Supreme Court. Probate is mostly procedure, and procedure is where cases are lost: a notice published a week late, a claim rejected without the required form, a decree that describes the minerals wrong. Every probate file here is built for the last judge who will read it.
Frequently asked questions
Does every estate in Wyoming have to go through probate?
No. Estates of $400,000 or less can pass by affidavit (personal property) or summary decree (real estate and minerals). Assets with beneficiary designations, joint ownership with survivorship, or held in a trust pass outside probate at any value.
What is the small estate limit in Wyoming?
$400,000, effective July 1, 2025, up from $200,000.
How long do creditors have to file claims?
Three months from the first publication of notice, or thirty days after the representative mails notice to a known creditor, whichever is later.
How long does probate take?
A summary decree usually takes six to ten weeks. An uncontested formal probate takes six months to a year. Contested estates take longer.
My parent died in another state but owned Wyoming minerals. Do I need a Wyoming probate?
You need a Wyoming proceeding of some kind: a waiver under § 2-11-201 if the property is $400,000 or less and the home estate is settled, or an ancillary administration otherwise.
How long do I have to contest a will?
Three months from the first publication of notice. If you believe a will was signed without capacity or under pressure, the clock is already running.
Do I have to hire a lawyer for probate?
Not for the small-estate procedures; many families use the court’s forms. Formal probate is different: a representative who misses a step can be personally liable, and Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-804 allows the attorney’s fee to be paid from the estate rather than out of pocket.
Talk to a lawyer today
Creditor and contest deadlines run from the first published notice. Call before that clock runs out.
Call (307) 333-7539. Answered 24/7, including weekends. Or request a free consultation.
Related
The law is not settled until it is just.
This page describes Wyoming law in general terms as of September 2026 and is not legal or tax advice. Every estate turns on its own facts. Contacting Deep Waters Law does not create an attorney-client relationship.