Wyoming
Death Laws & End-of-Life Guide

At a Glance

Filing and certification rules in Wyoming.

A death certificate for each death occurring in Wyoming must be filed with the local registrar within three (3) days of the death. The medical certification portion must be completed and signed by the physician, medical examiner, or nurse practitioner in charge of the patient's care within a reasonable time after death.

Who can order copies and where.

Certified copies of death certificates can be ordered from the Wyoming Vital Statistics Services. Eligible individuals typically include immediate family members or those with a legal right to the record. A valid government-issued ID is required.

• -Wyoming Vital Statistics Services, Hathaway Building, 1st Floor, 2300 Capitol Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002. Phone: (307) 777-7591. Website: https://health.wyo.gov/admin/vitalstatistics/
• -Cost: the Department of Health sets the fee by rule rather than by statute, and adds a $5.00 surcharge per copy (Wyo. Stat. § 35-1-428). Call Vital Statistics Services or check the order form for the current amount before you send payment.
• -Online ordering is available through the Wyoming Vital Records portal, with an additional convenience fee.

Who can order a death certificate in Wyoming?

Wyoming is a closed record state: death records open to the public 50 years after the death. Until then, immediate family (a parent, the current spouse or a child over 18), a lawyer representing the immediate family, or a bank, executor, insurer or anyone who needs the certificate to pay a policy or death benefit can order one, with a copy of photo identification. Certified copies come from Wyoming's Vital Records Services, Wyoming Department of Health, in Cheyenne, online through the state portal, in person in Cheyenne, or by mail with the application form; the office cannot take payment by phone.

How do I get a death certificate in Wyoming?

Order certified copies from Wyoming's vital records office; this section's source link is the official process. The funeral home or cremation provider usually orders the first copies for you. Ask each bank, insurer, court, and agency whether it needs its own certified copy before you decide how many to order.

How much does a death certificate cost in Wyoming?

$25 per certified copy in Wyoming, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.

At a Glance

When probate is required.

Probate is generally required in Wyoming if a deceased person's assets, not held in a trust or with beneficiary designations, exceed $400,000. Not earlier than 30 days after the death, a distributee can collect personal property, debts, and securities by affidavit if the entire Wyoming estate subject to administration is worth $400,000 or less after liens and encumbrances (Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-201).

If you die without a will.

If a person dies in Wyoming without a valid will (intestate), their assets are distributed according to state law. The distribution depends on the surviving family members.

• -If you have a spouse but no children or parents, your spouse inherits everything.
• -If you have a spouse and children, your spouse inherits one-half of your estate, and your children inherit the other one-half.
• -If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything.
• -If you have no spouse, children, or parents, your siblings inherit everything.
• -If no relatives can be found, your estate will escheat to the state of Wyoming.

Avoiding probate.

Common strategies to avoid probate in Wyoming include establishing a living trust, designating beneficiaries on accounts (such as bank accounts, retirement accounts, and life insurance policies), and holding property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship.

Handwritten wills.

Wyoming accepts a will entirely in the person's own handwriting and signed by them, witnessed or not (Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-113). At probate it's proved like any other private writing (§ 2-6-206). A typed will needs two witnesses. A will valid where it was signed, or where the person lived when they signed it or died, is valid here (§ 2-6-116).

Source: Wyoming Statutes Title 2 (Wyoming Legislature) ↗

How long does probate take in Wyoming?

A straightforward Wyoming probate typically runs one year, as shown in this section. Contested wills, missing heirs, or real property in other states stretch it well past that.

What is the small-estate limit in Wyoming?

$400,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.

Do I need a probate attorney in Wyoming?

Not always. If the estate qualifies for the simplified process covered above, many people handle it without a lawyer. Hire one for full probate, a contested will, or property in more than one state. Before you hire anyone, know the fee structures: hourly, flat, and (in a few states) statutory percentages. Our probate attorney cost guide covers what each should run you.

Does Wyoming allow transfer-on-death deeds?

Yes. Wyoming authorizes the transfer on death deed under Wyo. Stat. sections 2-18-101 to 2-18-106 (Nontestamentary Transfer of Real Property on Death Act). Record it while you’re alive and the property passes to your named beneficiary at death, outside probate, revocable any time before then. Wyoming's act (effective July 1, 2013) isn't the uniform act but works the same way: the deed must be recorded with the county clerk before the owner's death and can be revoked at any time; the statute includes fill-in forms for both the deed and its revocation.

Source: Wyo. Stat. sections 2-18-101 to 2-18-106 (Nontestamentary Transfer of Real Property on Death Act) ↗

Time off work after a death in Wyoming

Wyoming doesn't require a private employer to give bereavement leave, paid or unpaid. Whatever you get is your employer's policy, and it can be changed or refused.

Who it covers. No employer is covered. Wyoming has no employee-leave mandate of any kind.

How much. None required.

Paid or unpaid. n/a

Wyoming requires nothing: not bereavement leave, not sick leave, not vacation. The state DWS worker-rights page confirms how thin the statutory floor is, covering only minimum wage, final paycheck timing, public-works overtime, and a rule that use-it-or-lose-it vacation policies are allowed if the employee had a fair chance to use the time. Time off after a death is entirely a matter of the employer's own policy, and where a policy exists Wyoming treats it as a contract term the employer has to follow. The federal FMLA is the only job-protected leave most Wyoming workers have, and it does not cover bereavement.

Source: Wyo. Stat. tit. 27 (Labor and Employment), full title text published by the Wyoming Legislature; Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, Labor Standards ↗

Can I leave money to care for my pet in Wyoming?

Yes. Wyoming enforces pet trusts under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 4-10-409, so money you set aside for an animal is legally binding on whoever you put in charge of it. The trust ends when your animal dies, or when the last of them dies if you covered more than one. Wyoming sets no year limit, so an animal that outlives you by decades stays covered. Whoever you name in the trust enforces it, and Wyoming also lets a trust advisor or a trust protector do it if your trust has one. If you name none of them, a court appoints someone, and anyone who cares about your animal can ask the court to appoint an enforcer or to remove one who isn't doing the job. A judge can cut the amount back if the trust holds more than your animal's care requires. Unless your trust says where the extra should go, it comes back to you if you're living, and otherwise goes to whoever inherits from you. Wyoming covers an animal that was alive while you were, so a pet your family takes in after you die needs its own arrangement. If your trust already has a trust protector or a trust advisor, that person can enforce the pet provisions too, so you may not need a separate enforcer at all. Name the caretaker and a backup either way; the statute won't pick one for you.

Source: Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 4-10-409 ↗

How to set one up, and what it costs →

Die without a will in Wyoming and this law picks your heirs.

If you die intestate (without a valid will) in Wyoming, Wyo. Stat. § 2-4-101 decides who inherits everything a will would have covered. The shares depend on exactly who survives you: spouse, children, parents, siblings. What you told people you wanted doesn't matter. Only a signed will changes these defaults.

What your spouse gets.

What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:

• -Spouse only (no descendants or parents): everything.
• -Spouse + parents (no descendants): everything; parents get nothing.
• -Spouse + joint descendants: one-half to the spouse; children split the other half.
• -Spouse + blended family: same, one-half to the spouse, no special blended rule.
• -Source: Wyo. Stat. § 2-4-101

Children's shares.

The children take everything in equal shares, with the descendants of a dead child collectively taking that child's share.

No spouse, no children: the line of succession.

With no spouse or descendants the estate goes to the father, mother, brothers, and sisters (and descendants of dead siblings) all in equal parts as one group; then to grandparents, uncles, and aunts and their descendants in equal parts; with no heirs it escheats to the State of Wyoming (§ 2-4-105(b)).

At a Glance

What Wyoming requires.

Wyoming law allows adults to create an Advance Health Care Directive (AHCD) to make their healthcare wishes known. This document can include a living will and designate a healthcare power of attorney. It must be signed by the declarant and either notarized or attested by two adult witnesses.

Healthcare power of attorney.

A Healthcare Power of Attorney (HCPOA) is typically part of the Wyoming Advance Health Care Directive. It allows you to appoint an agent to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to do so. The agent's authority becomes effective upon your incapacitation.

POLST / MOLST forms.

Wyoming has a statutory POLST form (Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-22-501 to 35-22-508), a medical order distinct from the Advance Health Care Directive. The AHCD states your wishes and appoints an agent; a POLST turns those wishes into standing medical orders for people with serious illness. Ask your doctor about a POLST if that applies to you.

Where do I get Wyoming's advance directive form?

Start with Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-22-401 to 35-22-416 (Wyoming Health Care Decisions Act), linked as this section's source. Use the current form or sample that the official source provides or identifies. Form authority and execution requirements vary by state, so confirm the source before signing and get legal help if your situation or the instructions are unclear.

Does Wyoming require a notary or witnesses for an advance directive?

Wyoming accepts either 2 adult witnesses or a notary, as shown in the requirements above; you don't need both. Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.

At a Glance

Cremation rules in Wyoming.

Wyoming sets no waiting period after death. It gates cremation on one document. A crematorium can't accept remains for cremation or chemical disposition until it has the burial-transit permit (Wyo. Stat. § 33-16-533), and the local registrar can't issue that permit until a death certificate has been filed (Wyo. Stat. § 35-1-420(b)). The funeral director has to get the permit before final disposition or removal from the state, and within 72 hours after the death.

Green burial and alternatives.

Green burial is legal in Wyoming, allowing for natural decomposition with minimal environmental impact. This typically involves burial without embalming, in a biodegradable shroud or casket, and in a natural setting. Alkaline hydrolysis (aquamation) is also legal in Wyoming as chemical disposition under Wyo. Stat. § 33-16-502. Human composting isn't authorized by Wyoming law.

• -Green burial: Legal and supported by various natural burial grounds.
• -Alkaline hydrolysis (aquamation): Legal as an alternative disposition method.
• -Home burial: Generally permitted on private land, but local zoning and health regulations should be checked.

Funeral home regulations.

Funeral homes in Wyoming are regulated by the Wyoming Board of Embalmers, Funeral Directors, and Funeral Service Practitioners. They must adhere to state licensing requirements and federal regulations, including the FTC Funeral Rule, which mandates price disclosure.

Who decides what happens to the body in Wyoming

Wyoming sets this order by statute. The first person on the list who is available and willing decides, and a funeral home takes its instructions from them.

1. the decedent's own written instructions regarding entombment, burial, or cremation
2. person named in a document designating and authorizing another to direct disposition, including a military designation document in a form mandated by federal law at the time it was signed
3. the decedent's spouse at the time of death
4. an adult child of the decedent
5. either parent of the decedent
6. an adult sibling of the decedent
7. a grandparent of the decedent
8. a stepchild of the decedent
9. a guardian of the decedent in accordance with W.S. 3-2-201(a)(x)
10. any person who comes forward and legitimately identifies as another level of relation or friend, where no listed class member survives or none is competent to consent
11. the county coroner where the funeral establishment is located, if no consent is received within seven days of the death

Naming someone in advance. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 2-17-101(a) recognizes 'a document that designates and authorizes another person to direct disposition of the decedent's body' but prescribes no form, no notarization, and no witness requirement, and does not tie the designation to the advance health care directive. The same subsection expressly recognizes a designation document 'drafted pursuant to service in the military and in a form mandated by federal law at the time it was signed,' which is the DD Form 93 Record of Emergency Data.

When the same tier disagrees. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 2-17-101(c): a funeral director who receives written consent may act on it unless a person of higher or equal priority delivers a contrary written consent within three days. Given contrary written consents from members of the same highest-priority class, the director acts on the directive of the greatest number of consents received from that class. If the numbers are equal, the director acts on the earlier consent unless the later consenter obtains an order from the district court for the county where the funeral establishment is located, and the court orders disposition under the later consent only if shown by a preponderance of the evidence that it accords with the decedent's wishes.

Wyoming's list is short and idiosyncratic: it gives a tier to grandparents and to a stepchild, ranks the stepchild ahead of the guardian, and has no majority-of-the-children or majority-of-the-siblings rule, so any single adult child may consent and a sibling's contrary consent has to arrive in writing within three days to matter. Subsection (e) immunizes a funeral director acting or attempting in good faith to act under the section, and subsection (f) makes clear the section does not abrogate or amend the intestate succession laws at W.S. 2-4-101 through 2-4-214.

Source: Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 2-17-101 (Authority to authorize burial or cremation; immunity for funeral directors and funeral service practitioners) ↗

If you can't afford the funeral in Wyoming

Three separate pots of money, on three different agencies' websites, collected nowhere. A family that qualifies for all three usually claims none of them.

1. When nobody can pay. Two programs, split by whether the person was on public assistance when they died. Public assistance recipients are covered by the Department of Family Services under Wyo. Stat. § 42-2-103(c). Everyone else is covered by their county under Wyo. Stat. § 18-3-504(c). Wyoming Department of Family Services for the public assistance track. The board of county commissioners for the county track. Both are reimbursed out of the state indigent persons burial account.

What it pays. $1,500 either way. DFS: 'The amount paid under this subsection shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00) after consideration of funds available to the recipient from all other sources.' County: 'The amount paid under this subsection for burial or cremation shall not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500.00).' On the DFS track a qualifying veteran also gets transportation to the veterans' cemetery 'in an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars ($500.00)'. DFS burial or cremation expenses 'shall not include those expenses relating to cemetery costs.'

What disqualifies you. DFS track: the person was receiving POWER, supplemental security income, or Medicaid at the time of death and was 'without sufficient means in his own estate or other resources to provide burial or cremation'. Up to $1,500 of the corpus of a Medicaid qualifying trust is disregarded. County track: the person was not receiving POWER, SSI, or Medicaid at death and was without sufficient means.

The official page ↗

2. If the death was caused by a crime. No separate funeral cap. 'Economic loss' is defined to include 'funeral and burial expenses' (Wyo. Stat. § 1-40-102), and § 1-40-110(d) says 'the maximum individual award of compensation paid to any victim or dependent shall not exceed fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000.00).' For money up front, § 1-40-111(b) allows an emergency award for funeral and burial expenses where 'The amount of an emergency award to an applicant shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00)', deducted from the final award. The Division of Victim Services compensation page publishes no figures.

Wyoming crime victim compensation ↗

3. Money the person was already owed. Search Wyoming's unclaimed property before you borrow anything. Searching and claiming are free.

Wyoming unclaimed property ↗

Which office pays turns entirely on whether the person was on POWER, SSI, or Medicaid the day they died, so that's the first question to answer before calling anyone. The county can't be pushed past $1,500 either: the statute says no board of county commissioners is responsible for burial or cremation expenses above that amount.

At a Glance

Wyoming doesn't have a state estate tax.

Wyoming is one of many states that doesn't impose a state-level estate tax. Therefore, residents of Wyoming don't pay state estate tax on inherited assets. However, the federal estate tax may still apply to very large estates.

Wyoming doesn't have an inheritance tax.

Wyoming doesn't levy an inheritance tax. This means that beneficiaries inheriting property from a Wyoming resident won't pay a state inheritance tax on those assets.

Federal estate tax.

The federal estate tax applies to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for married couples. This is separate from any state estate or inheritance tax. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent, so the drop to roughly $7 million once scheduled under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act never took effect.

Does Wyoming have an estate tax?

No. Wyoming has no state estate tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for a married couple.

Does Wyoming have an inheritance tax?

No. Wyoming doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive.

What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?

$15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent. Estates below the threshold owe no federal estate tax.

At a Glance

Registering as a donor in Wyoming.

In Wyoming, you can register to be an organ, eye, and tissue donor through several methods. The most common ways are when applying for or renewing your driver's license or state ID, or by registering online with Donate Life Wyoming.

• -Donate Life Wyoming: https://www.donatelifewyoming.org/
• -Register at the Wyoming Department of Transportation (DOT) when obtaining or renewing your driver's license or state ID.
• -Indicate your wishes in your Advance Health Care Directive.

Your family can't override an adult donor's decision.

In Wyoming, a registered organ donor decision is legally binding. Nobody else can amend or revoke your gift after your death (Wyo. Stat. § 35-5-208). One exception: if the donor is an unemancipated minor, a parent who is reasonably available can revoke or amend the gift (Wyo. Stat. § 35-5-208(g)). In practice, organ procurement organizations still consult families, so make your wishes known to your family to avoid conflict.