Wyoming Estate Checklist | Small Estate Map

Which procedure

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Papers most holders ask for Certified copies of the death certificate Your photo ID The will, if there is one Recent statements for each account, car and property

Papers for this procedure: Distribution by affidavit (W.S. 2-1-201) Certified death certificate (holders and the county clerk usually ask for it) Facts showing each distributee's relationship to the person and the legal basis of the claim If a personal representative was applied for outside Wyoming: that person's name and address, the court and the dates

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Your checklist

Distribution by affidavit (W.S. 2-1-201)

A sworn affidavit, filed with the county clerk, stating that the Wyoming probate estate is $400,000 or less. You give certified copies to banks, brokers and others holding the person's personal property, and they must pay or deliver it to you.

Limit

Up to $400,000 (deaths on or after July 1, 2025) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of death	Limit
On or after July 1, 2025	$400,000
On or before June 30, 2025	$200,000

The person's Wyoming estate subject to probate, minus liens and encumbrances, cannot be worth more than $400,000. The limit rose from $200,000 to $400,000 on July 1, 2025.

What counts

The value of the person's entire estate located in Wyoming that would be subject to probate (with or without a will), minus liens and encumbrances. Property outside Wyoming and property that passes outside probate are not counted.

Waiting period

At least 30 days must have passed since the death, and no application to appoint a personal representative can be pending or granted in Wyoming.

Who can use it

The distributees (heirs, will beneficiaries, or people who inherit through them), or their attorney. The affidavit must state how each person is related to the person who died, the legal basis of their claim, and that there are no other distributees with a right to the property.

Court or where to file

Filed with the county clerk (not a court). Certified copies are then given to the holders of the property.

Notary

It is an affidavit, so it is sworn before a notary.

Papers to attach

Certified death certificate (holders and the county clerk usually ask for it)
Facts showing each distributee's relationship to the person and the legal basis of the claim
If a personal representative was applied for outside Wyoming: that person's name and address, the court and the dates

Steps

Add up the Wyoming probate property, minus liens, and confirm it is $400,000 or less.
Wait until at least 30 days after the death.
Prepare the affidavit with the statements W.S. 2-1-201(a) requires and sign it before a notary.
File it with the county clerk and get certified copies.
Give a certified copy to each bank, broker or other holder. For a vehicle, give it to the county clerk where the vehicle is registered.

Fee

The county clerk charges for filing and certified copies; ask the clerk.

Debts and responsibility

A person who receives property by affidavit is answerable and accountable to a personal representative appointed later and to anyone with an equal or better right to it.

What the bank or holder must do

On a filed affidavit, a holder must pay or deliver property held in the person's sole name, with interest and dividends; a receipt is its release. The holder is discharged as if it dealt with a personal representative and need not check the affidavit. If it refuses, you can sue, and the court must award reasonable attorney's fees and costs if the property was not delivered within 45 days after the affidavit was presented, unless there was just cause (W.S. 2-1-202).

Law: Wyo. Stat. secs. 2-1-201, 2-1-202, 2-1-209

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Wyoming

Generally only those listed on the record, immediate family members and their lawyers can get a certified copy. The first certified death certificate is $25 and each additional copy in the same order is $20.

Law: WDH Vital Statistics Services, Request for Certified Copy - Death (2024 form)

Where to get it: Wyoming Department of Health, Vital Statistics Services, Cheyenne, (307) 777-7591
Official page: Official page

Car or vehicle title after a death in Wyoming

The county clerk must transfer a vehicle's title from the person who died to the distributees when presented with the small estate affidavit (W.S. 2-1-201). If the title shows joint tenancy with right of survivorship, the surviving owner applies for a new title with a certified death certificate, and no sales or use tax is due. If the owner recorded a transfer on death beneficiary designation form, the beneficiary presents it with a certified death certificate and the title application fee.

Law: Wyo. Stat. secs. 2-1-201(d), 31-2-104(j), 31-2-104.1

Agency: County clerk of the county where the vehicle is registered (Wyoming titles are issued by county clerks)
Waiting period: 30 days after the death
Fee: The county clerk charges the certificate of title application fee (W.S. 31-3-102(a)(vii)).
Transfer-on-death title: An owner can record a beneficiary designation form ('transfer on death to') with the county clerk where the vehicle is titled; it must be notarized. After the death, the beneficiary gets a new title on presenting the form, a certified death certificate and the title fee.

Source: Official page

Surviving spouse in Wyoming

In a probate case, the court sets over to the surviving spouse (or, if none, the minor children) all property exempt from execution, including the homestead, as their own property, not subject to the person's debts except administration and funeral costs if nothing else is available; the homestead exemption is $30,000. The court can also allow money for family support. Wyoming has no separate spouse-only small estate procedure.

Related pages

Free help in Wyoming

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.