Executor and Personal-Representative Bond Requirements in Wyoming

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The ordinary bond has a statutory floor and specified sureties

Under W.S. §§ 2-3-101 to 2-3-104, the personal representative takes the oath and executes bond before receiving letters. The bond uses two or more sufficient individual sureties or one sufficient corporate surety approved by the court, commissioner, or clerk. It is joint and several.

The penalty cannot be less than the personal-property value plus the probable annual rents, profits, and issues of estate realty. The court or approving officer determines value through sworn examination of the applicant and any other person. Individual or corporate sureties must justify under written oath in an aggregate amount equal to the penalty.

Will, statute, or distributee waiver can excuse the initial bond

W.S. § 2-3-111 permits letters without bond when the will expressly says no bond, another statute does so, or the distributees waive the requirement in writing. The provision speaks collectively of “the distributees” but does not state how a partial waiver, minor or incapacitated distributee, trust interest, creditor consent, or nonwaiving interest is handled.

Waiver is not permanent immunity. The court may require bond later whenever it appears necessary for any reason. A real-estate sale after waiver may proceed without bond unless the court requires one for good cause.

Estate growth, realty sales, and cofiduciaries can expand the exposure

Under W.S. §§ 2-3-105 to 2-3-110, the court may require additional bond when an estate realty sale is ordered unless existing security covers remaining or incoming personal property, annual real-property income, and probable sale proceeds. Each of two or more personal representatives gives a separate bond in the same amount that one representative would give; Wyoming does not split the statutory floor among cofiduciaries.

Before or after approval, the approving officer may examine sureties on the officer's own motion or on an interested person's affidavit that one or more sureties are not worth the justified amount. If the bond is insufficient, added security is required.

Interested persons have several further-security routes

W.S. §§ 2-3-111 to 2-3-117 distinguish waste from surety deterioration. A sworn petition alleging that an initially unbonded representative is wasting estate property may seek bond or further security, and the judge or commissioner may suspend powers until the matter is heard.

An interested person also may file a verified petition when sureties are becoming insolvent, leaving Wyoming, or the bond is insufficient for another reason. If investigation is warranted, the representative receives a citation at least five days before the return date. After hearing, the court may require further security or a new bond within a reasonable period of at least five days. The court or commissioner must use the same show-cause path without an application when insufficiency otherwise comes to official knowledge.

Security deadlines can end authority

The appointment order fixes the time for oath and bond. Failure to qualify in that time lapses the appointment and requires another appointment. Failure to give sufficient security within an order's time ends the representative's administration right and moves appointment to the next entitled person who executes sufficient bond.

If a representative disobeys a further-security order, W.S. § 2-3-116 requires revocation of letters and cessation of authority. Under W.S. §§ 2-3-118 to 2-3-120, a surety may seek release from future acts; satisfactory replacement sureties permit prospective release, while neglect or refusal to replace them requires revocation of letters unless the applying surety grants more time.

What trips people up

• The amount includes real-property income, not real-property value itself. The ordinary floor is personal property plus one probable year of rents, profits, and issues; an ordered realty sale can add probable sale proceeds.
• Each co-representative gives the full separate bond. Section 2-3-107 does not divide one penalty among them.
• Waiver does not bar later bond. Section 2-3-111(c) lets the representative be required to file bond afterward for any reason that makes it necessary.
• Insufficient security has multiple consequences. Depending on the stage, powers may be suspended, an appointment may lapse, administration rights may cease, or letters must be revoked.

Common questions

May distributees waive bond orally at a hearing?

No. Section 2-3-111 requires the distributees' waiver to be in writing.

Can one corporate surety replace two individual sureties?

Yes. Section 2-3-102 permits either two or more sufficient individual sureties or one sufficient corporate surety, subject to approval and the justification requirements.

Can an interested person ask for more security before a loss occurs?

Yes. Sections 2-3-109 and 2-3-113 allow action based on inadequate justified value, developing insolvency, departure from Wyoming, or another cause of insufficiency. The statute does not require waiting for an actual bond loss.

Does a nonresident administrator merely post a larger bond?

No. Wyoming instead requires appointment of a resident coadministrator. The ordinary separate-bond and amount provisions then apply unless a valid waiver does.

Statutes and sources

• W.S. §§ 2-3-101 to 2-3-110 — oath, initial bond, surety options, statutory amount floor, recording, qualification lapse, realty-sale addition, separate cofiduciary bonds, surety examination, and insufficient-security consequence. Official current Wyoming Statutes Title 2, accessed 2026-08-29.
• W.S. §§ 2-3-111 to 2-3-120 — will/statute/distributee waiver, later bond, waste suspension, interested-person and own-motion further security, hearing, revocation, surety release, and replacement. Official current Wyoming Statutes Title 2, accessed 2026-08-29.
• W.S. §§ 2-4-201 and 2-4-203 — nonresident administrator and resident- coadministrator rule. Official current Wyoming Statutes Title 2, accessed 2026-08-29.