Wyoming estate administration
Small-estate limit: $400,000
This guide explains probate in Wyoming: Wyoming’s District Court may summarily distribute both personal and real property, including mineral interests, under a $400,000 net-of-liens ceiling.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
After 30 days, distributees may apply in District Court for summary distribution when the entire estate, including personal and real property and mineral interests, does not exceed $400,000 less liens and encumbrances.
Summary procedure for distribution of personal or real propertySimplified route
After 30 days, distributees may apply in District Court for summary distribution when the entire estate, including personal and real property and mineral interests, does not exceed $400,000 less liens and encumbrances.
Eligibility and caveatsCourt cost
The district-court clerk charges a $160 original filing fee for civil matters, including $40 for court automation and $10 for indigent civil legal services.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Ordinary fees apply to the amount of the decedent’s probate estate accounted for: 10% of the first $1,000, 5% through $5,000, 3% through $20,000, and 2% above. The court may adjust for unusual circumstances and allow just and reasonable extraordinary-service fees.
Compensation detailCreditor deadline
Wyoming has separate publication and mailed-notice deadlines. Published claims generally run three months from first publication; a mailed claimant receives the later of that date or 30 days after mailing. Multiple triggers make one days value misleading.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-201, 2-7-703 (Wyoming Legislature; reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsWyoming decision map
Use this map before opening a form or entering a number. It keeps the Wyoming amount test, time gate, court cost, and creditor record separate so one easy figure does not stand in for the whole administration.
| Question | Recorded Wyoming answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Summary procedure for distribution of personal or real property | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $400,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; Wyoming has separate publication and mailed-notice deadlines. Published claims generally run three months from first publication; a mailed claimant receives the later of that date or 30 days after mailing. Multiple triggers make one days value misleading. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | $160 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the District Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Ordinary fees apply to the amount of the decedent’s probate estate accounted for: 10% of the first $1,000, 5% through $5,000, 3% through $20,000, and 2% above. The court may adjust for unusual circumstances and allow just and reasonable extraordinary-service fees. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Wyoming ceiling is $400,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $300,000 sits below the Wyoming figure and $500,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Wyoming counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Wyoming ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | Below $400,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $500,000 | Above $400,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Wyoming publishes no court artifact in this registry. Wyoming Judicial Branch probate-help and court-locator URLs returned HTTP 403 during verification, so no nonresolving resource is published.
Wyoming Judicial Branch probate-help and court-locator URLs returned HTTP 403 during verification, so no nonresolving resource is published.
Wyoming's summary-distribution route under Wyo. Stat. 2-1-205 is started by an application the applicant drafts, so there is no official statewide small-estate form to download. The Wyoming Judicial Branch probate-help and court-locator pages returned HTTP 403 to automated requests during this review, so no court link is published here rather than one this site could not prove reachable. Ask the District Court clerk in the county of residence for local requirements.
Source trail
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.
No Wyoming court document is linked here. The notes below state why, rather than leaving the absence unexplained.
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: 2-1-205. Summary procedure for distribution of personal or real property; application for decree; notice by publication; presumptive evidence of title; effect of false statements. (a) If any person dies who is the owner of personal or real property, including mineral interests, but whose entire estate including personal property does not exceed four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00), less liens and encumbrances, the person or persons claiming to be the distributee or distributees of the decedent may file, not earlier than thirty (30) days after the decedent's death, an application for a decree of summary distribution of property. (b) The application shall be sworn to and signed by any person claiming to be a distributee and shall state the facts required by W.S. 2-1-201(a)(i) through (v).
Reviewed source note: The fees shall be computed on the basis of the amount of the decedent's probate estate accounted for as follows: (i) For the first one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) of the basis, ten percent (10%); (ii) For all sums over one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) but not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) of the basis, five percent (5%); (iii) For all sums over five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) but not exceeding twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) of the basis, three percent (3%); (iv) For all sums over twenty thousand dollars ($20,000.00) of the basis, two percent (2%).
Reviewed source note: 2-7-703. Filing required; failure to do so constitutes bar; exceptions. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, all claims whether due, not due or contingent, shall be filed in duplicate with the clerk within the time limited in the notice to creditors and any claim not so filed is barred forever. Any claimant to whom the personal representative has mailed a notice pursuant to W.S. 2-7-205(a)(ii) shall file his claim within three (3) months after the date of first publication of the notice in the newspaper, or before the expiration of thirty (30) days after the mailing, whichever date is later, and any claim not so filed is barred forever. If only one (1) copy of a claim is filed, the clerk shall make a duplicate and shall charge the claimant a reasonable fee not to exceed two dollars ($2.00) per page.
Reviewed source note: 5-3-206. Fees. (a) For all civil matters filed or commenced, the clerk of each district court shall charge the following fees: (i) For filing instruments or documents in each civil action and certifying one (1) copy of any order, decree or judgment at the time of its filing for each party, an original filing fee of one hundred sixty dollars ($160.00), which shall be paid by the plaintiff. This fee shall apply to original actions commenced and to actions that are reopened after a final decree previously has been entered. Forty dollars ($40.00) of the filing fee shall be for court automation, ten dollars ($10.00) shall be for indigent civil legal services and both shall be remitted as provided in W.S. 5-3-205;