Wyoming: Probate Family Allowance Requirements

Requirements one by one

Temporary possession and court-set support

Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-501 gives the surviving spouse or minor children possession of
the homestead, family wearing apparel, and the decedent's household furniture until
letters are granted and the inventory is returned. It also calls for a reasonable
support provision to be allowed by the court.

If the amount set apart is inadequate, § 2-7-502 requires the court to add a
reasonable estate allowance necessary to maintain the family according to its
circumstances during settlement. Neither section sets a dollar ceiling, a monthly
formula, or a lump-sum requirement.

The support sections state no fixed request deadline, special verified petition,
service list, mandatory attachments, or evidence standard. The court must determine
reasonable support and, for the supplemental layer, whether the amount set apart is
insufficient.

Homestead and execution-exempt property

The bundled property layer includes the homestead, fixed at $30,000 by
§ 2-7-508, and all property exempt from execution under Wyoming exemption law.
Under § 2-7-504, the court sets that property over as the spouse's absolute property,
or if there is no spouse, the minor children's. If the estate lacks an exempt item,
the survivor or children may choose equivalent value in money or other property.

If the surviving spouse is not the parent of one or more minor children, one-half of
the property goes to the spouse and the other half to the minors who are not the
survivor's children. A conservator must be appointed for the children.

The exempt-property petition has its own procedure

Section 2-7-505 permits any interested person to file the exempt-property petition at
any time during administration, but only after the first publication of the probate-
opening notice and filing of the appraisement. The petition must show the necessary
facts and ask that the property, including the homestead, be set over.

The court issues an order to show cause. It must be published once in a county
newspaper, and the personal representative must mail a copy to each heir and
beneficiary. Publication and mailing must occur at least 10 days before the
hearing, and the hearing cannot occur less than 10 days after the appraisement is
filed. The court then hears evidence and enters the order the facts and law require.
Those procedures govern the property set-aside; §§ 2-7-501 and 2-7-502 do not state
that every support allowance uses the same petition.

Priority, retroactivity, and liens

Section 2-7-503 permits the court to make an allowance effective from the decedent's
death. It preserves mortgages and recorded liens.

The allowance is not first in an insufficient estate. Sections 2-7-701 and 2-7-702
place court costs first, other administration costs second, funeral and burial
expenses third, and allowances under §§ 2-7-503 and 2-7-504 fourth. A shortfall
within that class is shared pro rata without favoring due claims over claims not yet
due.

Inheritance effect and waiver

Under § 2-5-103, a surviving spouse generally retains homestead, exempt-property, and
family-allowance rights whether or not the spouse takes an elective share or
renounces will benefits. If the will clearly says its spouse provision is in lieu of
those rights, the spouse loses them by keeping the will provision. Section 2-7-504
separately says the spouse's exempt-property right is unaffected by renouncing or not
renouncing the will benefit.

Section 2-5-102 permits a total or partial waiver before or after marriage through a
written contract, agreement, or waiver signed by the waiving party after fair
disclosure. Unless the document says otherwise, an “all rights” waiver or qualifying
complete property settlement reaches elective share, homestead, exempt property,
family allowance, intestacy benefits, and benefits under an earlier will.

What trips people up

• The possession period is short and event-based. It ends when both letters are
  granted and the inventory is returned; the extra maintenance layer can continue
  during estate settlement.
• The statute uses different claimant words. Section 2-7-501 starts with spouse
  or minor children but calls the support recipients “widow or minor children.”
  Section 2-5-103 separately states the surviving spouse's family-allowance right.
• Property procedure is not automatically support procedure. Section 2-7-505's
  publication, mailing, and hearing rules expressly govern setting apart exempt
  property and homestead.
• Recorded liens survive. Priority under § 2-7-503 does not invalidate a
  mortgage or lien of record.

Common questions

Is there a maximum family-allowance amount?

No fixed cap appears in §§ 2-7-501 and 2-7-502. The court sets reasonable support
based on the family's circumstances and any insufficiency in the amount set apart.

Can the court make the allowance effective from death?

Yes. Section 2-7-503 gives the court discretion to make an allowance take effect from
the decedent's death.

What if the whole estate is exempt property?

If the court sets over the whole estate as exempt under § 2-7-505, no further estate
administration is required unless additional estate property is later discovered.

Statutes and sources

• Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-501 —
  temporary possession, support provision, homestead entitlement, and definition
  cross-reference (accessed August 3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-502 —
  supplemental necessary maintenance during settlement (accessed August 3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-503 —
  preference, possible effect from death, and recorded-lien protection (accessed
  August 3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-504 —
  absolute exempt property, substitute value, mixed-family split, and will-
  renunciation rule (accessed August 3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-505 —
  property petition, publication, mailing, hearing, evidence, and whole-estate
  closure (accessed August 3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-508 —
  $30,000 probate homestead amount (accessed August 3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-701 to -702
  — insufficient-estate classes and pro rata same-class payment (accessed August
  3, 2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-5-102 —
  signed waiver after fair disclosure and broad-waiver effect (accessed August 3,
  2026).
• Wyo. Stat. § 2-5-103 —
  elective-share, will-renunciation, and will-in-lieu treatment (accessed August
  3, 2026).