Probate Notice to Creditors and Claim Deadlines in Wyoming

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Publication follows admission and letters

After admission of the will or intestate estate and issuance of letters, the personal representative publishes once a week for three consecutive weeks in a daily or weekly newspaper of general circulation in the probate county. The statute supplies no separate numeric start deadline.

The prescribed notice identifies the probate and representative, requests immediate payment from debtors, and directs creditors to file in duplicate with necessary vouchers in the issuing court clerk's office within three months after first publication. The publisher proves publication by affidavit filed with the clerk.

Reasonably ascertainable creditors receive first-class mail

The representative mails a true copy of the published notice by ordinary first-class mail to each creditor reasonably ascertainable within the published claim period. Mailing must occur no later than 30 days before the three-month period expires. The representative or attorney proves mailing by affidavit filed with the clerk.

Separate copies also go to the Department of Health when the decedent received medical assistance and to the Department of Family Services in the child-support circumstances stated by § 2-7-205.

The claim is a supported duplicate court filing

Under § 2-7-704, the creditor files in duplicate with the issuing court clerk. A due claim needs an affidavit that the account is justly due, uncredited payments do not exist, and no known offsets remain. A not-due or contingent claim states its particulars. Instrument claims attach a copy, and a recorded mortgage or lien may be described by its recording details.

If only one copy is filed, the clerk makes the duplicate and may charge no more than $2 per page. That cure does not replace the required vouchers or affidavit.

Direct mail can extend the publication deadline

The ordinary deadline is three months after first publication. A creditor who received § 2-7-205(a)(ii) mail gets the later of that date or 30 days after mailing. Untimely claims are forever barred unless a statutory exception applies.

The complete researched claims article, §§ 2-7-701 through 2-7-719, states no separate period running from death. § 2-7-714 still prevents allowance of a claim already barred by its ordinary statute of limitations.

The statute supplies narrow relief and special routes

In adversary proceedings, the court may protect a claimant entitled to equitable relief due to peculiar circumstances. It may also protect an unmailed claimant whose identity was reasonably ascertainable within the published period. A claim not exceeding $200 may be allowed by the representative without creditor filing, subject to later accounting review.

A mortgage or lien holder may enforce only against the collateral without prior claim rejection when the complaint expressly waives recourse against other estate property or seeks no deficiency. By contrast, a surviving cause of action and an action already pending at death still require the statutory claim steps.

What trips people up

Wyoming uses court filing, not delivery to the personal representative, as the claim-presentation act. The clerk sends one filed copy to the representative.

The mailed-creditor rule is a later-of formula. Mailing near the publication deadline can leave 30 days after mailing rather than only the remainder of the three-month period.

An existing lawsuit is not self-preserving. § 2-7-709 requires duplicate filing of certified substitution and pleading documents within the claim period.

Common questions

Must a Wyoming estate publish creditor notice?

Yes. After probate admission and issuance of letters, § 2-7-201 directs the personal representative to publish for three consecutive weeks.

Must known creditors receive direct notice?

Creditors whose identities are reasonably ascertainable within the published period must receive a first-class copy.

Does the creditor file with the representative?

No. The ordinary claim is filed with the issuing court clerk, which transmits a copy to the representative.

Can a mortgage holder proceed without filing an estate claim?

The lien holder may use the collateral-only route in § 2-7-717 if recourse against other estate property is expressly waived or no deficiency is sought.

Statutes and sources

• W.S. § 2-7-201 — mandatory three-week publication, venue, prescribed contents, duplicate clerk filing, vouchers, and three-month warning. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-12)
• W.S. §§ 2-7-205 and 2-7-206 — reasonably ascertainable creditors, agency notices, first-class timing, and proof affidavits. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-12)
• W.S. §§ 2-7-703 and 2-7-704 — later-of mailed-creditor period, equitable exceptions, small claims, duplicate filing, affidavit, vouchers, and instruments. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-12)
• W.S. §§ 2-7-705 through 2-7-709 — contingent claims, surviving causes, public assistance, fiduciary claims, and pending actions. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-12)
• W.S. §§ 2-7-714, 2-7-717, and 2-7-718 — ordinary limitations, collateral-only lien route, rejection prerequisite, and 30-day suit bar. https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title02.pdf (accessed 2026-08-12)