How to Create a Will in Wyoming: Requirements and Common Mistakes
Updated: Sep 4
Creating a valid will in Wyoming is not especially complicated, but the formalities matter. A document can clearly state what you want and still create problems if it was signed incorrectly, witnessed by the wrong people, or written without accounting for property that passes outside the will.
Here are the principal Wyoming rules—and some of the mistakes worth avoiding.
Who Can Make a Will in Wyoming?
Under Wyoming law, a person of legal age and sound mind may make a will. Wyoming's age of majority is 18, so an adult who is 18 or older and has the required mental capacity can generally make a will. W.S. §§ 2-6-101, 14-1-101.
The "sound mind" requirement matters particularly when there are concerns about dementia, cognitive decline, undue influence, or family pressure. A will signed under questionable circumstances may become the subject of a later probate contest even if the document otherwise looks correct.
What Are the Requirements for a Valid Wyoming Will?
For an ordinary, formally executed Wyoming will, W.S. § 2-6-112 requires the will to be in writing or typewritten, witnessed by two competent witnesses, and signed by the testator. If the testator cannot personally sign, another person may sign in the testator's presence and at the testator's express direction.
The safest traditional execution ceremony is straightforward: the testator and two competent witnesses participate together, the testator makes clear that the document is the testator's will, and all required signatures are completed correctly.
Wyoming also permits witnesses to participate through audio-video communication technology. Remote witnesses must be able to see and hear the testator in real time, assess the testator's competency and voluntariness, and securely sign the will electronically. W.S. § 2-6-112(b).
Remote execution is therefore possible, but it should not be improvised. The statutory requirements still have to be satisfied.
Do the Witnesses Have to Be Disinterested?
A beneficiary is not automatically incompetent to serve as a witness, and using an interested witness does not necessarily invalidate the entire will. But it can jeopardize what that witness receives.
Under W.S. § 2-6-112, a subscribing witness generally cannot receive a benefit under the will unless there are also two disinterested and competent witnesses. An interested witness who would have inherited even without the will may be able to retain a benefit up to the amount of that intestate share.
The practical rule is much simpler than the statute: use two competent witnesses who are not beneficiaries. There is usually little reason to create an avoidable issue over witness eligibility.
Are Handwritten Wills Valid in Wyoming?
Yes. Wyoming recognizes a holographic will.
A holographic will does not need to satisfy the ordinary two-witness requirement if it is entirely in the testator's handwriting and signed by the testator's own hand. W.S. § 2-6-113. That exception is narrower than many people assume. A document assembled from typed provisions with handwritten additions is not the same thing as a will entirely in the testator's handwriting.
A holographic will can be legally valid, but validity is not the only concern. Handwritten wills are particularly susceptible to unclear language, omitted provisions, conflicting gifts, and disputes over what the writer intended.
Does a Wyoming Will Need to Be Notarized?
Notarization is generally not required simply to make an otherwise properly executed Wyoming will valid. The ordinary execution statute requires the testator's signature and two competent witnesses; notarization is not listed as an additional requirement. W.S. § 2-6-112.
Notarization becomes important for a different reason: making the will self-proving.
Under W.S. § 2-6-114, the testator and witnesses can execute the required acknowledgments and affidavits before an officer authorized to administer oaths. A properly self-proving will can later be admitted to probate without additional proof of its execution. W.S. § 2-6-204.
In practical terms, a self-proving will may save the executor from having to locate witnesses years later and obtain testimony establishing that the will was properly signed.
What Property Does a Will Actually Control?
One of the most common estate-planning mistakes is assuming that a will controls everything a person owns.
A will generally governs property that becomes part of the probate estate. Wyoming law broadly provides that a will can pass property the testator owns at death, including property acquired after the will was signed, unless the will indicates otherwise. W.S. § 2-6-102.
But many important assets can pass outside probate and therefore outside the will.
Depending on how an asset is owned or designated, that may include:
life insurance with a beneficiary designation;
retirement accounts with named beneficiaries;
bank or investment accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations;
property owned with survivorship rights; and
property already titled in a trust.
That means writing in your will that "my daughter receives my investment account" may accomplish nothing if the account itself names someone else as its beneficiary.
A good estate plan therefore coordinates the will with asset titles, beneficiary designations, and any trust rather than treating the will as a stand-alone document.
Naming an Executor in a Wyoming Will
A will ordinarily nominates the person who should serve as executor, sometimes referred to more broadly as a personal representative.
But nomination in the will is not the same thing as already possessing legal authority over the estate. After death, the will is submitted to probate and the nominated executor generally seeks appointment and issuance of letters testamentary from the court. Wyoming's probate statutes expressly contemplate that process.
Choosing the right executor matters. The person may be responsible for locating assets, dealing with creditors, filing tax returns, maintaining property, making distributions, and navigating disputes among beneficiaries.
Reliability and judgment generally matter more than geography or seniority within the family.
What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Wyoming?
If a Wyoming resident dies without a valid will governing the probate estate, Wyoming's intestate-succession statute determines who receives the property.
One Wyoming rule surprises many married people. If a person dies leaving both a spouse and children or descendants of children, one-half of the intestate estate passes to the surviving spouse and the other half passes to the children and descendants as provided by statute. If the decedent leaves a spouse but no children or descendants of children, the spouse receives the intestate estate. W.S. § 2-4-101.
So a married person who assumes, "My spouse will automatically inherit everything anyway," may be making an incorrect assumption.
A will also permits choices that intestacy law cannot make for you—such as gifts to friends or charities, selection of an executor, and a more carefully designed distribution for children.
How Do You Change or Revoke a Wyoming Will?
Wyoming law allows a will to be revoked by a later will that expressly revokes the earlier document or is inconsistent with it. A testator can also revoke a will by burning, tearing, cancelling, obliterating, or destroying it with the intent and purpose of revoking it. Another person can perform the physical act if it occurs in the testator's presence and at the testator's direction. W.S. § 2-6-117.
The intent requirement is important. Accidentally damaging or losing a will is not the same thing as intentionally revoking it.
In practice, signing a properly drafted replacement will is often cleaner than writing changes on an existing original or trying to alter individual provisions informally.
A will should also be reviewed after significant life changes, including:
marriage;
divorce;
birth or adoption of a child;
death of a beneficiary or executor;
major changes in assets;
acquisition or sale of a business;
a substantial change in family relationships; or
a move to another state.
Divorce receives special treatment under Wyoming law. Subject to statutory exceptions, divorce or annulment can revoke certain dispositions and fiduciary appointments involving a former spouse and certain relatives of the former spouse. Wyoming also expressly provides that changes of circumstances not mentioned in the statute do not themselves revoke a will. W.S. § 2-6-125.
Reviewing the document after a major life event is therefore safer than assuming the law will rewrite the estate plan automatically.
What If Your Will Was Signed in Another State?
Moving to Wyoming does not ordinarily mean that an otherwise valid will suddenly becomes invalid.
W.S. § 2-6-116 recognizes a written will if it complies with Wyoming's execution requirements or with the applicable law of certain other jurisdictions identified by the statute, including the place where the will was executed.
But valid and still appropriate are different questions.
A will written in another state may remain enforceable while nevertheless naming the wrong people, referring to property you no longer own, failing to coordinate with new Wyoming property, or reflecting a plan that no longer makes sense.
For more on that issue, see I Moved to Wyoming. Do I Need a New Will or Trust?
When Is It Worth Having a Lawyer Prepare the Will?
A simple estate does not always require complicated planning. But the consequences of a drafting or execution mistake usually arise only after the person who could have corrected the mistake is gone.
Legal advice becomes particularly useful when the estate involves:
a blended family;
children from a prior relationship;
minor children;
business or LLC ownership;
ranch, mineral, or investment property;
substantial assets;
an intended disinheritance;
a beneficiary with special needs;
a trust;
estate or tax-planning concerns;
unusual beneficiary designations or ownership arrangements; or
a significant possibility of family conflict.
The question is not merely whether a document can qualify as a valid will. The better question is whether the will, beneficiary designations, ownership structure, and other estate-planning documents will actually produce the intended result.
The Bottom Line
To create a conventional valid will in Wyoming, the basic requirements are straightforward: the testator must have legal capacity, the will must satisfy Wyoming's writing and signature requirements, and two competent witnesses must properly witness its execution. Wyoming also recognizes qualifying holographic wills and permits remote witnessing under specified conditions.
But execution is only the beginning. A well-designed will should also account for beneficiary designations, jointly owned property, trusts, the choice of executor, intestacy rules, and changes in family or financial circumstances.
A will works best as one part of a coordinated estate plan—not as a document considered in isolation.
REFERENCES
Wyoming Statutes §§ 2-6-101 through 2-6-125, Wills.
Wyoming Statute § 2-4-101, Rule of Descent.
Wyoming Statutes §§ 2-6-201 through 2-6-210, Probate and Appointment of Executor.
Wyoming Statute § 14-1-101, Age of Majority.
Wyoming Legislative Service Office, Wyoming Statutes, Title 2: Wills, Decedents' Estates and Probate Code.
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