Probate in Wyoming: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will
Wyoming sends most estates through probate court, with a few notable exceptions that may apply at the time of death. If the deceased does not have a will, this is called intestate succession and inheritance is determined by the state’s rules. An estate will go through probate in Wyoming if there is no will, with a few exceptions.
Assets in these categories usually avoid probate altogether.
- Beneficiaries on life insurance
- Beneficiaries on a retirement account
- Payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation on bank or brokerage accounts
- Property owned jointly with right of survivorship
If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in Wyoming. Wyoming has one of the highest small estate thresholds in the country: personal property valued at $400,000 or less can transfer by affidavit 30 days after death, with no court proceeding required at all.
Succession Laws Without a Will in Wyoming
Wyoming's approach to property ownership shapes everything that follows intestate succession. Wyoming is a common law property state, not a community property state, meaning ownership follows whose name is on the title, deed, or account. Wyoming has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code, and dower and curtesy have both been abolished here.
If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and the state follows these lines of succession.
- If you have descendants, your spouse inherits 1/2 of your estate. Your descendants inherit the other 1/2, a flat split that applies whether or not the children are also your spouse's.
- If you have no descendants, your spouse inherits your entire estate.
- If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.
- If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit everything, then your siblings.
Wyoming Probate Process
Wyoming probate is filed in the District Court of the county where the deceased lived. Wyoming offers its own simplified procedures for smaller estates (the Small Estate Affidavit and Summary Distribution) as alternatives to full probate. Wyoming has no state estate tax, and the creditor claim period is a relatively short three months.
Avoiding Probate in Wyoming
A long probate process is avoidable for the majority of an estate. Here's how.
- Assets in a trust. You can identify how you want those distributed after your death.
- Beneficiaries on accounts. A payable-on-death (POD) designation will specify who receives payment at the time of your death. A transfer-on-death (TOD) designation names a new owner for those accounts.
- Joint ownership with right of survivorship, giving your spouse or another co-owner automatic ownership of any joint property.
