Inheritance Disclaimer and Renunciation Requirements in Wyoming

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered interests

Wyoming's disclaimer law is Article 4 of the Probate Code, W.S. §§ 2-1-401 to -405. Section 2-1-401 reaches an interest a person would otherwise receive by gift, bequest, devise, inheritance, beneficiary designation, exercise of a power of appointment, or survivorship. Section 2-1-402 says an interest includes an undivided portion and a power with respect to property.

Whole, partial, and conditional disclaimer

An undivided portion can be disclaimed under § 2-1-402(a)(i), so the statute is not limited to an all-or-nothing refusal. The same section defines a disclaimer as an “irrevocable and unqualified refusal.” That definition does not authorize a condition chosen by the disclaimant.

Writing or record and required contents

Both Wyoming routes require a writing. For the tax-qualified route, § 2-1-403(a) requires the writing to be an irrevocable, unqualified refusal. The separate state route in § 2-1-403(d) requires a written irrevocable disclaimer and a prior or contemporaneous written acknowledgment that the disclaimer does not qualify for federal or other tax purposes. Article 4 does not separately require a property description or an original document.

Signature, witnesses, acknowledgment, and notary

Article 4 says the disclaimer must be written but does not state that it must be signed, witnessed, sworn, acknowledged, or notarized. That state-validity question is separate from recording. If a real-property disclaimer is recorded as a general conveyance affecting title, § 34-1-113 requires an acknowledgment before a notarial officer to make the instrument recordable.

State deadline, irrevocability, and federal-tax overlay

Wyoming's tax-qualified route tracks the federal structure. Section 2-1-403(a) requires receipt within nine months after the later of the transfer or the disclaimant reaching age 21, and the refusal must be irrevocable. Federal law in 26 U.S.C. § 2518(b) independently uses the same timing, nonacceptance, and no-direction conditions.

The state-law answer is broader after a 2025 amendment. Section 2-1-403(d) makes an otherwise nonqualifying written irrevocable disclaimer effective to terminate and pass the interest if a prior or contemporaneous writing acknowledges the loss of federal or other tax qualification. That subsection states no separate fixed state deadline.

Delivery, filing, and recipient

For the tax-qualified route, § 2-1-403(a)(ii) requires the writing to be received by the transferor, the transferor's legal representative, or the holder of legal title. It does not prescribe personal service, registered or certified mail, a probate- court filing, or asset-specific recipients. Section 2-1-403(d) does not name a recipient, delivery method, or filing office for its non-tax route.

Real-property recording and notice

Article 4 contains no disclaimer-specific recording command. Wyoming's general land- record statute, however, defines a conveyance to include a writing by which real- estate title may be affected (§ 34-1-102). An acknowledgment makes that instrument recordable with the county clerk where the land lies under §§ 34-1-113 and 34-1-118. Sections 34-1-120 and 34-1-121 give recording its priority and notice consequences: an unrecorded conveyance is void against a later good-faith purchaser who records first, while a recorded instrument touching land gives notice from delivery for record.

Acceptance, transfer, insolvency, and creditor bars

The tax-qualified route fails if the beneficiary has accepted the interest or its benefits, or if the beneficiary directs where it goes (§ 2-1-403(a)(iii)-(iv)). Article 4 does not separately list assignment, encumbrance, pledge, judicial sale, insolvency, or creditor process as state-law bars. Section 2-1-403(d) instead creates the written non-tax-qualified route when subsection (a) or (b) is not satisfied.

Effective date and destination

Wyoming states no separate relation-back rule. Section 2-1-404 first honors an express direction in the deed of gift or will. Otherwise, the result turns on the transfer: the interest reverts if the transferor is living; if the transferor died testate it passes under the residuary clause, with a residuary disclaimant treated as not surviving; intestate property passes as though the disclaimant did not survive; and survivorship property passes as though the disclaimant were not a survivor.

What trips people up

Nine months is not the whole state-law answer. It controls Wyoming's tax- qualified route, but § 2-1-403(d) now recognizes a separate state-effective disclaimer that expressly acknowledges tax nonqualification.

A notary has two different roles. Article 4 does not require notarization for disclaimer validity. Acknowledgment matters when recording an instrument that affects Wyoming real-estate title.

The statute does not create a probate filing step. The qualified route is framed as receipt by one of three people, not filing with a district court.

Common questions

Can I disclaim only part of the inheritance? Yes. Section 2-1-402 includes an undivided portion within the interests that may be disclaimed.

What must the non-tax acknowledgment say? Section 2-1-403(d) requires the beneficiary to acknowledge in a prior or contemporaneous writing that the disclaimer does not qualify for federal or other tax purposes. The statute does not supply a form.

Can I name who receives the property next? Not through the tax-qualified route; § 2-1-403(a)(iv) requires passage without the disclaimant's direction, and § 2-1-404 supplies the default destination rules.

Statutes and sources

• W.S. §§ 2-1-401 to -403 — coverage, undivided portions, definition, tax-qualified requirements, and the non-tax-qualified state route. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• W.S. § 2-1-404 — destination of the disclaimed interest. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• W.S. §§ 34-1-102, 34-1-113, 34-1-118, and 34-1-120 to -121 — general real-property instrument definition, acknowledgment, county recording, notice, and purchaser priority. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title34.pdf (accessed 2026-08-01)
• 26 U.S.C. § 2518(b) — separate federal qualified-disclaimer requirements. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2024-title26/USCODE-2024-title26-subtitleB-chap12-subchapB-sec2518 (accessed 2026-08-01)