Wyoming timeline
The simplified route starts 30 days after death.
That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Wyoming they are set out below against the event each one runs from.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
The summary procedure for distribution of personal or real property route requires 30 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.
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).Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-205 — Wyoming Legislature; verified September 15, 2026.
Wyoming does not run one creditor clock. Separate periods start from separate events, and the date that actually bars a claim is the one the applicable period produces. They are listed here against the event that starts each, because a period attached to the wrong starting event is how a deadline gets missed by weeks.
How these combine. 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.
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.Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-201, 2-7-703 — Wyoming Legislature; verified September 15, 2026.
Publishing notice starts a period after which most claims are barred. Missing a required notice can extend the estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. Confirm the dates that apply to this estate with the District Court before relying on them, because a specific case can carry deadlines these general provisions do not reach.
Wyoming timeline decision map
The Wyoming waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.
| 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. |
Clock ledger
The Wyoming record names separate triggers. The description beside each trigger is the source-bound statement to carry into the estate calendar; the interaction rule explains which period controls when more than one applies.
| Clock starts with | Recorded period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Publication of notice | Three months after first publication. | Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-201, 2-7-703 |
| Actual notice to a known creditor | For a mailed claimant, later of three months after first publication or 30 days after mailing. | Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-201, 2-7-703 |
| Appointment of the representative | Admission and issuance of letters trigger publication once a week for three consecutive weeks. | Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-201, 2-7-703 |
How the periods combine: 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.
Case-file context
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Wyoming descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Wyoming’s District Court may summarily distribute both personal and real property, including mineral interests, under a $400,000 net-of-liens ceiling.
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.
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.
$160 is the recorded statewide amount.
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.
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.
Court-material note: 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.
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
The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.
What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Wyoming periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.
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.