Chapter 4 - Intestate Succession - Wyoming Statutes

CHAPTER 4 - INTESTATE SUCCESSION

 

ARTICLE 1 - IN GENERAL

 

2-4-101. Rule of descent; generally; dower and curtesy abolished.

 

(a) Whenever any person having title to any real or personalproperty having the nature or legal character of real estate or personal estateundisposed of, and not otherwise limited by marriage settlement, diesintestate, the estate shall descend and be distributed in parcenary to hiskindred, male and female, subject to the payment of his debts, in the followingcourse and manner:

 

(i) If the intestate leaves husband or wife and children, orthe descendents of any children surviving, one-half (1/2) of the estate shalldescend to the surviving husband or wife, and the residue thereof to thesurviving children and descendents of children, as hereinafter limited;

 

(ii) If the intestate leaves husband or wife and no child nordescendents of any child, then the real and personal estate of the intestateshall descend and vest in the surviving husband or wife.

 

(A) Repealed by Laws 1985, ch 135, 2.

 

(B) Repealed by Laws 1985, ch 135, 2.

 

(iii) Repealed by Laws 1985, ch. 135, 2.

 

(b) Dower and the tenancy by the curtesy are abolished andneither husband nor wife shall have any share in the estate of the other dyingintestate, save as herein provided.

 

(c) Except in cases above enumerated, the estate of anyintestate shall descend and be distributed as follows:

 

(i) To his children surviving, and the descendents of hischildren who are dead, the descendents collectively taking the share whichtheir parents would have taken if living;

 

(ii) If there are no children, nor their descendents, then tohis father, mother, brothers and sisters, and to the descendents of brothersand sisters who are dead, the descendents collectively taking the share whichtheir parents would have taken if living, in equal parts;

 

(iii) If there are no children nor their descendents, nor father,mother, brothers, sisters, nor descendents of deceased brothers and sisters,nor husband nor wife, living, then to the grandfather, grandmother, uncles,aunts and their descendents, the descendents taking collectively, the share oftheir immediate ancestors, in equal parts.

 

2-4-102. Rule of descent; illegitimate person.

 

(a) The rule of descent of all property, real and personal, ofany illegitimate person dying intestate in this state and leaving property andeffects therein, shall be as follows:

 

(i) To the widow or surviving husband and children, as theproperty and effects of other persons in like cases;

 

(ii) If the deceased illegitimate person leaves no children ordescendents of a child or children, then the whole estate shall descend to andvest in the widow or surviving husband;

 

(iii) If the deceased illegitimate person leaves no widow,surviving husband or descendents, his estate shall descend to and vest in themother and her children, and their descendents, one-half (1/2) to the motherand the other half to be equally divided between her children and theirdescendents, the descendents of a child taking the share of the deceased parentor ancestors;

 

(iv) If the deceased illegitimate person leaves no heirs, asabove provided, the estate shall pass to and vest in the next of kin of themother of such illegitimate person, in the same manner as the estate of alegitimate person would pass by law to the next of kin.

 

2-4-103. Posthumous persons.

 

Personsconceived before the decedent's death but born thereafter inherit as if theyhad been born in the lifetime of the decedent.

 

2-4-104. Kindred of half blood; stepchildren; foster children.

 

Personsof the half-blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of thewhole blood, but stepchildren and foster children and their descendents do notinherit.

 

2-4-105. Alienage not to affect inheritance; exception; burden ofproof; when property to escheat to state.

 

(a) The alienage of the legal heirs shall not invalidate anytitle to real estate which shall descend or pass from the decedent, except thatno nonresident alien who is a citizen of any country foreign to the UnitedStates of America, shall by any manner or means acquire real property in thisstate by succession or testamentary disposition if the laws of the country ofwhich the nonresident alien is a citizen do not allow citizens of the UnitedStates of America to take real property by succession or by testamentarydisposition.

 

(b) If a decedent leaves no heirs, devisees or legateesentitled to take real property under the terms of this act, the decedent'sproperty shall escheat to the state of Wyoming as now provided by law forescheat property.

 

(c) The burden of proof is upon a nonresident alien toestablish the existence of reciprocal rights asserted by him.

 

2-4-106. Divorce not to affect children's rights.

 

Divorcesof husband and wife do not affect the right of children to inherit theirproperty.

 

2-4-107. Determination of relationship of parent and child.

 

(a) If for purposes of intestate succession, a relationship ofparent and child shall be established to determine succession by, through orfrom a person:

 

(i) An adopted person is the child of an adopting parent and ofthe natural parents for inheritance purposes only. The adoption of a child bythe spouse of a natural parent has no effect on the relationship between thechild and that natural parent;

 

(ii) An adopted person shall inherit from all other relatives ofan adoptive parent as though he was the natural child of the adoptive parentand the relatives shall inherit from the adoptive person's estate as if theywere his relatives;

 

(iii) In cases not covered by paragraph (i) of this subsection, aperson born out of wedlock is a child of the mother. That person is also achild of the father, if the relationship of parent and child has beenestablished under the Uniform Parentage Act, W.S. 14-2-401 through 14-2-907.

 

2-4-108. Advancements generally; exceptions; determination.

 

(a) If a person dies intestate, property which he gave in hislifetime to an heir is treated as an advancement against the latter's share ofthe estate only if declared in a contemporaneous writing by the decedent oracknowledged in writing by the heir to be an advancement. For this purpose theproperty advanced is valued as of the time the heir came into possession orenjoyment of the property. If the recipient of the property fails to survivethe decedent, the property is not taken into account in computing the intestateshare to be received by the recipient's issue, unless the declaration oracknowledgment provides otherwise.

 

(b) The maintenance, education or supply of money to a minor,without any view to apportion or settlement in life, is not deemed anadvancement under this section.

 

(c) When any heir of the intestate receives in his lifetime anyreal or personal estate by way of advancement, and the other heirs desire it tobe charged to him, the judge shall cite the parties to appear before him, shallhear proof upon the subject, and shall determine the amount of such advancementor advancements to be thus charged.

 

ARTICLE 2 - PROCEDURE FOR ADMINISTRATION

 

2-4-201. Persons entitled to administer.

 

(a) Administration of the estate of a person dying intestateshall be granted to one (1) or more of the persons mentioned in this section.The relatives of the deceased are entitled to administer only when they areentitled to succeed to his personal estate or some portion thereof. They areentitled to administer in the following order:

 

(i) The surviving husband or wife, or some competent personwhom he or she may request to have appointed;

 

(ii) The children;

 

(iii) The father or mother;

 

(iv) The brothers or sisters;

 

(v) Repealed by Laws 1987, ch. 129, 1,2.

 

(vi) The grandchildren;

 

(vii) The next of kin entitled to share in the distribution ofthe estate;

 

(viii) The creditors;

 

(ix) Any person legally competent.

 

(b) If the decedent was a member of a partnership at the timeof his death, the surviving partner shall not be appointed administrator of theestate if he is competent only by reason of paragraphs (a)(viii) and (ix) of thissection.

 

(c) No nonresident of the state of Wyoming shall be appointedas administrator unless a resident of Wyoming is appointed as coadministrator.

 

2-4-202. Appointment of administrator(s).

 

Wherethere are several persons equally entitled to administer, the court, orcommissioner in vacation may grant letters to one (1) or more of them. When acreditor is claiming letters, the court, or commissioner in vacation, may atthe request of another creditor grant letters to any other person legally competent.

 

2-4-203. Persons incompetent to administer.

 

(a) No person is competent or entitled to serve asadministrator, who is:

 

(i) Under the age of majority;

 

(ii) Not a bona fide resident of the state unless a resident ofWyoming is appointed coadministrator; or

 

(iii) Adjudged by the court, or commissioner in vacation,incompetent to execute the duties of the trust.

 

2-4-204. Married woman may be administratrix.

 

Amarried woman may be appointed and serve as administratrix the same in every respectas a femme sole. When an unmarried woman appointed administratrix marries herauthority is not extinguished.

 

2-4-205. Petition for letters of administration; contents; effect ofwant of jurisdictional averments.

 

Apetition for letters of administration shall be in writing, signed by theapplicant or his counsel and filed with the clerk of the court. The petitionshall state the facts essential to give the court jurisdiction of the case, andwhen known to the applicant, shall state the names, ages and residences of theheirs of the decedent, the value and character of the property and where thesame is situated. If the jurisdictional facts existed but are not fully setforth in the petition, and are afterwards proved in the course of administration,the decree or order of administration and subsequent proceedings are not voidon account of such want of jurisdictional averments.

 

2-4-206. Contest of petition; assertion of own rights to administer.

 

Anyperson interested may contest the petition by filing written opposition on theground of the incompetency of the applicant, or may assert his own rights tothe administration and pray that letters be issued to himself. In the lattercase the contestant shall file a petition and submit evidence in supportthereof, taken and reduced to writing before the clerk or commissioner of thecourt, and the court shall hear the two (2) petitions together.

 

2-4-207. Hearing of contest; issuance of letters.

 

Afterhearing the allegations and proofs of the parties, the court shall order theissuing of letters of administration to the party best entitled thereto.

 

2-4-208. When letters granted.

 

Lettersof administration may be granted at any time appointed for the hearing of theapplication, or at any time to which the hearing is continued or postponed.

 

2-4-209. Letters granted to any applicant if not contested.

 

Lettersof administration shall be granted to any applicant, though it appears thereare other persons having better rights to the administration, when thosepersons fail to appear either in person or by agent or attorney and claim theissuing of letters themselves.

 

2-4-210. Letters granted on request of person entitled.

 

Administrationmay be granted to one (1) or more competent persons, although not otherwiseentitled to the same, at the written request of the person entitled, filed incourt.

 

2-4-211. Creditors; right to apply for letters.

 

Ifletters testamentary or of administration have not been issued upon the requestof any other person, any creditor of the decedent may apply for letters ofadministration at any time within two (2) years after the death of decedent,but not afterwards.

 

2-4-212. Creditors; when claims barred; effect on liens.

 

Ifthe letters are not issued within the time specified, all claims of creditorsare forever barred and the purchasers of the property of the decedent from theheirs of the decedent shall take the title free from any claim of creditors.This act does not affect the lien upon encumbered property secured by validmortgage or deed of trust in the case of real property, or by securityagreement or interest valid under the Wyoming Uniform Commercial Code, but thesecured creditor is not entitled to any deficiency judgment.

 

2-4-213. Transcript of court minutes to be evidence of appointment.

 

Atranscript from the minutes of the court showing the appointment of any personas administrator, together with the certificate of the clerk under his hand andthe seal of the court, that the person has given bond and been qualified andthat letters of administration have been issued to him and have not beenrevoked, shall have the same effect in evidence as the letters themselves.

 

2-4-214. Form of letters of administration .

 

Lettersof administration shall be signed by the clerk under the seal of the court, andsubstantially in the following form:

 

State of Wyoming )

 

)ss

 

County of .... )

 

C. D. is hereby appointed administrator ofthe estate of A. B., deceased. Witness, G. H., clerk of the district court withinand for the county of .... with the seal thereto affixed, the .... day of ....A. D. ....

 

.... Clerk.