Wyoming Intestate Succession

When a Wyoming resident dies without a will, W.S. 2-4-101 decides who inherits. If the decedent leaves a spouse and any child or grandchild, the spouse takes one-half of the estate and the descendants split the other half. If the decedent leaves a spouse and no descendants, the spouse takes everything, and parents, brothers and sisters take nothing.

That rule is shorter than the one most states use. Wyoming never adopted the Uniform Probate Code, so its intestacy statute has no dollar-figure first share for the spouse and no smaller share when the children came from another relationship. A summary written for a UPC state will give the wrong answer for a Wyoming estate.

This page covers who gets what. For how the estate moves through the district court, read how the estate is probated.

What Intestate Succession Covers

A person who dies without a valid will dies "intestate." Under W.S. 2-4-101(a), property the decedent owned that is "undisposed of, and not otherwise limited by marriage settlement" descends to the decedent's kindred in the order the section sets out. The same section makes that property "subject to the payment of his debts," so heirs take what is left after the estate pays its bills.

The rules reach probate property only. Assets that name their own taker pass outside them:

• retirement accounts and life insurance with a named beneficiary
• joint tenancy property with right of survivorship
• payable-on-death bank accounts and transfer-on-death securities
• Wyoming real estate under a transfer on death deed recorded before the death
• anything already titled to a trust

A life insurance policy that names a beneficiary pays that beneficiary no matter who the heirs are.

The Surviving Spouse Share

W.S. 2-4-101(a) sets two outcomes for a married decedent, and only one fact decides between them: whether any child, or any descendant of a child, survives.

Four things follow from that table.

The share is a fraction, never a dollar amount. A spouse with one child takes half of a $90,000 estate or half of a $9 million estate. Wyoming has no first $150,000 or $300,000 set aside for the spouse the way UPC states do.

Blended families do not change the math. If the decedent had a child from an earlier marriage, the spouse still takes one-half. If the spouse has children the decedent did not, the spouse still takes one-half. The statute asks only whether the decedent left descendants.

Parents never share with a spouse. A married person who dies with no children leaves the whole estate to the spouse, even when both parents are alive.

Dower and curtesy are gone. W.S. 2-4-101(b) abolishes both and says neither spouse has any share in the other's intestate estate except as that section provides. The fractions above are the whole of the spouse's intestate share.

Two worked examples

Say the estate is worth $600,000 after debts and expenses.

• Spouse and three children. The spouse takes $300,000. Each child takes one-third of the remaining $300,000, or $100,000.
• Spouse and no children, with a living mother and a brother. The spouse takes all $600,000. The mother and brother take nothing.

The intestate share is only one of the spouse's rights. Exempt property and the family allowance sit beside it. See the surviving spouse's other rights.

Who counts as the spouse

A surviving spouse is the person legally married to the decedent at the death. W.S. 20-1-111 treats a marriage contract that was valid where it was made as valid in Wyoming, so a couple validly married elsewhere stands on the same footing as a couple married here. Wyoming's marriage statutes require a license from a county clerk before a marriage is solemnized (W.S. 20-1-103), and no Wyoming statute validates an informal marriage formed inside the state. When a family disputes whether a marriage existed, the district court decides that question on the evidence.

Who Inherits When There Is No Spouse

W.S. 2-4-101(c) sends the estate down three classes. Each class has to be empty before the next one inherits.

1. Children and their descendants. The surviving children take equal shares. The descendants of a child who died first collectively take the share that child would have taken if living ((c)(i)).
2. Parents, brothers and sisters, together. If no child or descendant survives, the estate goes to the father, mother, brothers and sisters, and to the descendants of deceased brothers and sisters, "in equal parts" ((c)(ii)).
3. Grandparents, uncles, aunts and their descendants. If none of the above survives, the estate goes to the grandfather, grandmother, uncles, aunts and their descendants, the descendants taking the share of their immediate ancestor, in equal parts ((c)(iii)).

The second class is where Wyoming departs furthest from its neighbors. Most states give the estate to the parents first and let brothers and sisters inherit only when no parent survives. Wyoming puts parents and siblings in one class and splits the estate among them equally.

Work an example. An unmarried woman with no children dies without a will. Her mother, two sisters and a brother survive. Her father has died. The estate splits four ways, and her mother and each sibling take one-fourth. If one sister had died first and left two children, those two children would split that sister's fourth, one-eighth each.

To see these shares applied to one family, the Wyoming inheritance calculator asks who survived and splits the estate under W.S. 2-4-101.

How the Descendants' Shares Divide

Wyoming's statute states its representation rule in one phrase: the descendants of a person who died first take "collectively" the share their parent "would have taken if living." The share follows the family line.

Take a widower who dies without a will. One daughter survives. One son died before him and left one child. Another son died before him and left three children. The estate splits into three shares, one for each child's line:

• the daughter takes 1/3
• the first son's only child takes his father's full 1/3
• the second son's three children split their father's 1/3, taking 1/9 each

Wyoming does not pool the deceased children's shares and redivide them equally among all the grandchildren. The same method applies to the descendants of a deceased brother or sister in the second class and to the descendants of an uncle or aunt in the third.

Rules That Change Who Counts as an Heir

Half blood. Under W.S. 2-4-104, persons of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood. A half brother takes what a full brother takes.

Stepchildren and foster children. The same section says stepchildren and foster children and their descendants "do not inherit." A stepchild who was never adopted inherits nothing from a stepparent who dies without a will. Adoption or a will is the only way to change that.

Adopted children. Under W.S. 2-4-107(a)(i) and (ii), an adopted person is the child of the adopting parent, inherits from the adoptive parent's other relatives, and those relatives inherit from the adopted person. A stepparent adoption does not cut the child off from the natural parent married to the adopter.

Children born outside marriage. W.S. 2-4-107(a)(iii) makes a person born out of wedlock the child of the mother. The person is also the father's child if the parent and child relationship has been established under the Uniform Parentage Act, W.S. 14-2-401 through 14-2-907.

Children born after the death. W.S. 2-4-103 lets a person conceived before the decedent's death but born afterward inherit as if born during the decedent's lifetime.

Divorce of the parents. W.S. 2-4-106 says a divorce between husband and wife does not affect the right of their children to inherit from them.

Advancements. Under W.S. 2-4-108(a), a lifetime gift counts against an heir's share only if the decedent declared it an advancement in a contemporaneous writing or the heir acknowledged it in writing. The gift is valued when the heir received it. Support, education or money supplied to a minor without a view to settling the estate is not an advancement ((b)). When other heirs want a gift charged, the judge hears proof and sets the amount ((c)).

Nonresident aliens and real property. W.S. 2-4-105(a) says an heir's alienage does not defeat title to Wyoming real estate, with one exception: a nonresident alien cannot take Wyoming real property by succession if the alien's country does not let United States citizens take real property by succession or by will. The nonresident alien carries the burden of proving that reciprocity ((c)).

When Two People Die Together

Wyoming has no 120-hour survival rule. It keeps the older Uniform Simultaneous Death Act in Title 2, chapter 13. Under W.S. 2-13-103, when title depends on who died first and "there is no sufficient evidence" that the two died otherwise than simultaneously, each person's property passes as if that person had survived the other. So when a married couple dies in the same crash with no evidence of who died first, the husband's estate passes as if his wife died first, and her estate passes as if he did.

Chapter 13 yields to a will, living trust, deed or insurance contract that provides for a different distribution (W.S. 2-13-102).

A Killer Cannot Inherit

W.S. 2-14-101(a) bars a person who "feloniously takes or causes or procures another to take the life of" the decedent from inheriting any part of the estate. The same section blocks the killer from joint tenancy survivorship, beneficiary and transfer-on-death designations, and from serving as personal representative or trustee. Under subsection (c), the property the killer would have taken passes as though the killer died first.

Community Property From Another State

Wyoming is a common-law property state. One exception covers couples who lived in a community-property state and brought that property with them. W.S. 2-7-720 through 2-7-729, the Disposition of Community Property Rights at Death Act, reach property acquired as community property under another jurisdiction's law. Under W.S. 2-7-723, half of that property already belongs to the surviving spouse and does not pass by intestacy. Only the decedent's half goes through the fractions above.

Family Protections Sit Beside the Intestate Share

W.S. 2-7-504 tells the court to set over to the surviving spouse, or to the minor children if no spouse survives, all of the decedent's property exempt from execution, including the homestead, as their absolute property. That property is not subject to the decedent's debts, except administration and funeral expenses when nothing else in the estate can pay them. Where the Probate Code refers to the homestead exemption, W.S. 2-7-508 fixes it at $30,000.

If the spouse is not the parent of all the minor children, 2-7-504 splits the exempt property: one-half to the spouse and one-half to the minors who are not the spouse's children. Read Wyoming surviving spouse rights for how the allowances are claimed.

When No Heir Survives

The statute's list of heirs ends with grandparents, uncles, aunts and their descendants. It names no more distant class. When a decedent leaves no heirs, devisees or legatees entitled to take, W.S. 2-4-105(b) says the property "shall escheat to the state of Wyoming."

How an Intestate Estate Gets Settled

The statute names the heirs. Someone still has to collect the property and hand it over.

In Wyoming, W.S. 2-2-101 gives the district court exclusive original jurisdiction over the settlement and distribution of estates. You file with the Clerk of District Court in the county, and you can find yours in the list of Wyoming district courts by county. There is no separate probate court.

When there is no will, W.S. 2-4-201(a) sets the order of priority to serve as administrator:

1. the surviving spouse, or a competent person the spouse asks the court to appoint
2. the children
3. the father or mother
4. the brothers or sisters
5. the grandchildren
6. the next of kin entitled to share in the estate
7. the creditors
8. any legally competent person

Subsection (c) adds a Wyoming rule that surprises out-of-state families: no nonresident of Wyoming can be appointed administrator unless a Wyoming resident is appointed as co-administrator. The administrator collects the assets, notifies creditors, pays allowed claims, and distributes the shares above. Read the Wyoming probate process for the steps.

Plenty of intestate estates never need letters of administration. Since July 1, 2025, W.S. 2-1-201 lets a distributee collect personal property with an affidavit filed with the county clerk once 30 days have passed, if the entire Wyoming estate, less liens and encumbrances, is worth $400,000 or less and no application for a personal representative is pending or granted. W.S. 2-1-205 offers a summary decree of distribution for estates under the same figure that include real property or mineral interests. See the small estate affidavit for the full test.

If these default shares would send property somewhere the owner would not choose, the answer is a will. See making a valid Wyoming will.

When to Get Help

Many Wyoming intestate estates divide straight off the statute. Consider a licensed Wyoming attorney when:

• a stepchild who was never adopted expected to inherit
• the family disputes whether a marriage existed
• two family members died close together and the order of death is unclear
• a lifetime gift may count as an advancement
• no Wyoming resident is available to serve beside a nonresident administrator
• the couple once lived in a community-property state
• an heir is a nonresident alien and the estate holds Wyoming real property

This guide organizes the statutory shares and the questions worth asking. Confirm anything that affects a particular estate with the Clerk of District Court handling it or a licensed Wyoming attorney.

Sources:

• Title: W.S. 2-4-101, Rule of descent; generally; dower and curtesy abolished. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2 (Wills, Decedents' Estates and Probate Code). Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-4-103 to 2-4-108, Posthumous persons; Kindred of half blood, stepchildren, foster children; Alienage and escheat; Divorce not to affect children's rights; Determination of relationship of parent and child; Advancements. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2. Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-4-201, Persons entitled to administer. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2. Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-13-102 and 2-13-103, Uniform Simultaneous Death Act; Disposition of property based on presumption of survivorship. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2. Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-14-101, Taking of life precludes one from inheritance, insurance or survivorship benefits. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2. Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-7-504, 2-7-508 and 2-7-723, Absolute property of surviving spouse and minor children; Amount of homestead exemption; Distribution of property upon death of a married person. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2. Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 2-1-201, 2-1-205 and 2-2-101, Payment of indebtedness and delivery of property by affidavit; Summary procedure for distribution of personal or real property; Exclusive jurisdiction conferred on district courts. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 2. Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf
• Title: W.S. 20-1-111, Foreign marriages. Publisher: Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming Statutes Title 20 (Domestic Relations). Publication Date: Title PDF created 2026-05-08, accessed 2026-09-28. URL: https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title20.pdf

It is not legal advice.