Work it out on your own number

Three rows on this page compute. Wyoming is one of the few states where the statute does the attorney’s math as well as the executor’s, and the court fee computes too.

What each part costs

Every row is one figure, one source, one date. Where Wyoming fixes no price, the row says so instead of guessing.

What can change the bill — allowances, waivers and one-off charges

What changes YOUR number in Wyoming

The schedule is charged twice, and that is the headline cost

Wyoming publishes the same percentages for the personal representative and for the estate’s attorney, in two consecutive sections. Where both are claimed in full, the combined figure on a probate estate of $250,000.00 is $10,700.00, and on $1,000,000.00 it is $40,700.00. Where one person does both jobs, only the role they act in earns the fee — the two sections are separate entitlements for separate work, not a doubling of one.

The basis is not the gross estate, and the definition does real work

Section 2-7-803(c) builds the basis deliberately: items with which the representative is chargeable at inventory value, adjusted for any loss or increase shown by a reappraisement or an actual sale during administration, plus accretions such as interest, dividends and profits on sales — but expressly not money borrowed or refunds of amounts the representative paid — less property lost or destroyed without the representative’s fault, and counting only the net income of any business operated during administration. Feeding a gross figure into the percentages overstates both fees.

The floor can be argued down on one side only

The court must allow the computed fee unless it is waived in writing, and may allow more. The attorney’s section adds subsection (d): nothing prevents the personal representative and the attorney from negotiating lower fees. That is an express invitation to agree a smaller number before the work starts, and no other schedule state on this site says it as plainly.

The court fee arrives in two instalments

$160.00 opens the matter. The value increment is collected later, when the inventory or appraisement is filed and only if it shows $5,000.00 or more — $50.00 on $100,000.00, $250.00 on $500,000.00. Budgeting the opening figure alone understates a large estate’s court cost, and the increment rounds up: a portion of $10,000.00 is charged as a full $10,000.00.

One notice runs two clocks

Wyoming’s published notice does two jobs from the same first publication date. Any action to set aside the probate of the will must be brought within three months of it. Creditors must file claims, with the necessary vouchers, within three months of it — and they file them with the clerk of court, not with you. Both bars run from that one date.

The bond base is unlike most states’

The penalty is not less than the value of the personal property plus the probable value of the annual rents, profits and issues of the real property. Land itself is not in the sum, but what the land yields in a year is. The court fixes the value by examining the applicant on oath, and the sureties must justify in the aggregate to the full penalty.

Waiving the bond does not put the estate beyond reach

Where the will waived bond and a petition alleges on oath that the representative is wasting the property, the judge or commissioner may suspend the representative’s powers by order until the matter is heard. And where a bond is ordered but sufficient security is not given in the time fixed, the right to administer ceases and the next person entitled is appointed on giving a sufficient bond.

The small-estate ceiling is the highest on this site, and it reaches land

$400,000.00 on both Wyoming routes. The affidavit route covers personal property and transfers vehicle titles at the county clerk; the summary distribution route reaches real property including mineral interests, and ends in a recorded decree that is presumptive evidence of title. Many estates that would be ordinary probates elsewhere never open a full administration here.

Three tools, in the order most people need them

Wyoming probate cost questions

How much does an executor get paid in Wyoming?

Wyoming publishes the schedule and the court must allow it: 10 per cent of the first 1,000 dollars, 5 per cent of the next 4,000, 3 per cent of the next 15,000 and 2 per cent of everything above 20,000, computed on the decedent’s probate estate accounted for. The court shall allow those fees for ordinary services unless the personal representative files a written waiver of part or all of them. It is a floor rather than a ceiling: the court may allow more where unusual circumstances make the computed figure inequitable, and may allow further just and reasonable fees for extraordinary services such as tax matters and litigation.

Does Wyoming set probate attorney fees by statute?

Yes, and the attorney’s schedule is identical to the executor’s: 10 per cent of the first 1,000 dollars, 5 per cent of the next 4,000, 3 per cent of the next 15,000 and 2 per cent above 20,000, on the same computation basis. The court shall allow it unless the attorney waives part of it in writing, and may allow more for extraordinary services. Subsection (d) says something no other schedule state on this site says as plainly: nothing prevents the personal representative and the attorney from negotiating lower fees. No contingent fee is allowed against the estate except in a wrongful death proceeding, and then only on a written contract approved by the court in advance.

What does it cost to file for probate in Wyoming?

160 dollars to open it, then more when the inventory lands. The opening charge is three components: a 110 dollar original filing fee, a 40 dollar court automation fee and a 10 dollar indigent civil legal services fee. When an inventory or appraisement is filed showing an estate worth 5,000 dollars or more, the clerk collects an extra 5 dollars for the 5,000 to 10,000 band and another 5 dollars for each additional 10,000 dollars of value or part of it. On an estate of 250,000 dollars that increment is 125 dollars, making 285 dollars in total.

Does an executor have to post a bond in Wyoming?

Yes, before the letters are handed over, unless an exception applies. The bond runs to the State of Wyoming with two or more sufficient individual sureties or one sufficient corporate surety, and the penalty must be not less than the value of the personal property plus the probable value of the annual rents, profits and issues of any real property. Three routes avoid it: the will expressly provides that no bond is required, a statute so provides, or the distributees waive it in writing. Even then the court can require a bond later, and where the will waived it and someone swears on oath that the estate is being wasted, the judge may suspend the representative’s powers until the matter is heard.

What is the small estate limit in Wyoming?

400,000 dollars, the highest limit on this site. The test is the value of the entire estate located in Wyoming subject to administration, testate or intestate, less liens and encumbrances. You wait thirty days from the death and no application for appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted in Wyoming. The affidavit is filed with the county clerk rather than handed to the holder, and the county clerk of the county where a vehicle is registered transfers its title on the same affidavit. A second route at the same ceiling, summary distribution, reaches real property including mineral interests.

Sources & verification

Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown. The Wyoming Legislature publishes each title as one complete PDF, so the section number is printed with every citation below.