Wyoming Exempt Property and Probate Homestead

When a Wyoming resident dies leaving a spouse or minor children, the district court sets over to them everything the decedent owned that Wyoming's exemption laws protect from creditors, including a probate homestead worth up to $30,000, under W.S. 2-7-504 and 2-7-508. The family takes that property as its own, free of the decedent's debts except administration and funeral costs the rest of the estate cannot pay.

This guide covers what counts as exempt property, the $30,000 homestead and how it is carved out of a larger house, who takes the property, where it sits against creditors, and how the family asks the court for it. Wyoming also lets the court award money for support during administration, which the family allowance guide covers. This is general information about Wyoming law.

Wyoming Borrows Its List From the Execution Statutes

Wyoming does not print a single dollar cap for exempt property the way many states do. W.S. 2-7-504 reaches "all property of the decedent exempt from execution under the exemption laws of this state including the homestead." So the list is the one a debtor uses against a judgment creditor, found in Title 1, chapter 20.

None of these figures is indexed for inflation. Each is the amount printed in the Wyoming Statutes edition the Legislature published on May 8, 2026.

Missing items still have a value. If the decedent did not own some or all of the listed property, W.S. 2-7-504 entitles the spouse or minor children to "the value of the exempt property either in money or other property as they may prefer." A decedent with no car still leaves the family a claim to the value the vehicle line allows.

Two Homesteads, Two Different Numbers

Here is the trap. Wyoming has two homestead figures, and they do different jobs.

• $100,000 while the owner is alive. W.S. 1-20-101 entitles every resident to a homestead worth up to $100,000, exempt from execution and attachment. 2023 Session Laws chapter 84 (House Bill 174) raised it from $20,000, effective July 1, 2023.
• $30,000 in probate. W.S. 2-7-508 says: "Wheresoever in the Probate Code the limit of the homestead exemption is established or referred to, the exemption is thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00)."

The 2023 act amended 1-20-101 and nothing else, so the Probate Code figure stayed at $30,000. A source that gives a surviving spouse a $100,000 probate homestead has read the wrong section. We found no Wyoming Supreme Court decision addressing the two figures and rely on the statute text.

Under W.S. 2-7-501(c), "homestead" in the Probate Code means the property described in 2-7-507, to the value stated in 2-7-508. W.S. 1-20-104 describes what can be a homestead: a house on a lot or on other land of any acreage, or a house trailer or other movable home on a lot, with or without wheels.

How the Court Carves Out $30,000

The inventory appraisal decides which of two paths the homestead takes.

1. Worth $30,000 or less. W.S. 2-7-506 tells the court to order the whole homestead set off to the people entitled to it.
2. Worth more than $30,000. W.S. 2-7-507 sends the question to the appraisers. If the premises can be divided without material injury, they measure off a portion that includes the dwelling house and is worth $30,000, and report its metes and bounds. If the premises cannot be divided, they report that, and the court may order the premises sold and the proceeds distributed to the parties entitled.

Liens are paid first when the estate can afford it. Under W.S. 2-7-506, if the estate's funds can pay every claim, the personal representative pays all claims and any liens on the homestead from estate funds. If the funds fall short, the liens are paid proportionately with the other allowed claims, and the lender enforces its lien against the homestead only for the deficiency left over.

Who Takes the Property

W.S. 2-7-504 sets out the order.

• The surviving spouse comes first. The court sets the property over to the spouse as the spouse's absolute property.
• With no spouse, the minor children take it. Adult children are not on the list.
• Blended families split it. If the surviving spouse is not the parent of all or any of the minor children, one-half goes to the spouse and one-half to the minors who are not the survivor's children. The court appoints a conservator for those children, as it would for any estate property passing to a minor.
• With neither, the homestead goes to creditors. W.S. 2-7-501(b) and 1-20-103 both say that when there is no spouse and no minor child, the homestead is liable for the decedent's debts.

The family does not have to wait for the court's order to stay in the house. W.S. 2-7-501(a) lets the spouse or minor children remain in possession of the homestead, all the family's wearing apparel, and the household furniture until letters are granted and the inventory is returned.

Where Exempt Property Sits Against Creditors

The set-over keeps most creditors away, with two exceptions.

• Administration and funeral costs. W.S. 2-7-504 lets these reach exempt property only when the estate has no other property to pay them.
• Recorded mortgages and liens. W.S. 2-7-503 says the allowance rules do not invalidate any mortgage or lien of record against the decedent's property.

Past that, the property is out of reach. W.S. 2-7-509 says anyone who succeeds to a homestead set apart takes it "exempt from claims against the estate of the decedent." In an estate that cannot pay everyone, W.S. 2-7-701(a) ranks the allowances under 2-7-503 and 2-7-504 fourth, after court costs, other administration costs and reasonable funeral and burial expenses, and ahead of federal preferred debts and taxes, last-illness medical bills, state preferred taxes, employee wages for the last 90 days, public-assistance repayment claims and all other claims. For the full list, see Wyoming debt payment priority.

A claim to repay public assistance is paid only after the first eight classes and, under W.S. 2-7-707, cannot be enforced against estate property needed to support the surviving spouse, a minor child or another dependent.

How to Ask the Court for It

Nothing passes automatically. Someone has to petition, and W.S. 2-7-505 lays out the steps.

1. Wait for two events. The petition can be filed any time during administration after the first publication of the notice of probate and after the appraisement is filed.
2. File the petition. Any interested person may file one, showing the facts and asking the court to set the exempt property, including the homestead, over to the people entitled to it.
3. The court issues an order to show cause. It names a day for everyone interested to appear and explain why the property should not be set over.
4. Publish and mail the order. The order runs once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and the personal representative mails a copy to each heir and beneficiary. Both happen at least 10 days before the hearing. W.S. 2-7-203 prints the form the notice follows.
5. Attend the hearing. The court hears the evidence and enters the order the facts and law require. The hearing cannot be held sooner than 10 days after the appraisement is filed.

To save a step, the notice may be combined with the notice of probate. The estate pays the costs of these proceedings as administration expenses under W.S. 2-7-509.

A small estate can end here. If the court finds the whole estate exempt and sets it over, W.S. 2-7-505 says no further administration is required unless more property turns up. For the personal representative's other deadlines, see Wyoming executor duties.

Exempt Property Stacks With the Will and the Elective Share

A spouse does not have to choose between exempt property and an inheritance.

• Renouncing the will changes nothing. W.S. 2-7-504 says the spouse's right to exempt property is not affected by renouncing, or failing to renounce, the gifts the will makes.
• The elective share leaves it intact. W.S. 2-5-103 keeps the homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance for the spouse whether or not the spouse elects. The exception is a will that clearly makes its gift to the spouse in lieu of these rights; a spouse who keeps that gift gives them up.
• It comes off before the share is measured. W.S. 2-5-101(a) measures the elective share after deducting funeral and administration expenses, the homestead allowance, family allowances and exemption, and enforceable claims.

For how the elective share and intestate share work, see every protection a surviving spouse has and Wyoming intestate succession.

Next Steps

1. Confirm the decedent lived in Wyoming. W.S. 2-7-504 applies to "any resident of this state."
2. List the items in the table above that the decedent owned, and note what is missing so the family can claim its value.
3. Get the house appraised with the inventory. The appraisal decides whether the court sets off the whole homestead or the appraisers carve out $30,000.
4. After the first publication of the notice of probate and the filing of the appraisement, file the 2-7-505 petition and calendar the 10-day publication and mailing.
5. Ask the court about the support on top of exempt property if the family needs money during administration. The Wyoming probate guide covers the rest of the case.

Sources:

• Title: W.S. 2-7-501 through 2-7-509, Property Allowance for Surviving Spouse and Minor Children (2-7-504 Absolute property of surviving spouse and minor children; exceptions; renouncement of will of no effect.; 2-7-508 Amount of homestead exemption.). Publisher: Wyoming State Legislature. Publication Date: May 8, 2026. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-7-203, Order to show cause for setting off exempt property; form.; and W.S. 2-7-701, Debts and charges; classification. Publisher: Wyoming State Legislature. Publication Date: May 8, 2026. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-5-101, Elective share of property.; and W.S. 2-5-103, Homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance; exception. Publisher: Wyoming State Legislature. Publication Date: May 8, 2026. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 1-20-101 through 1-20-106, Property Exempt From Execution or Attachment (1-20-101 Homestead exemption; right.; 1-20-105 Wearing apparel.; 1-20-106 Exemption of other personal property; personalty used in livelihood; appraisement.). Publisher: Wyoming State Legislature. Publication Date: May 8, 2026. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title01.pdf
• Title: House Bill 174, Homestead exemption-amendments (Session Laws 2023, chapter 84). Publisher: Wyoming State Legislature. Publication Date: February 24, 2023. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/2023/Enroll/HB0174.pdf

It is not legal advice.