Probate Family Allowance Requirements in Wyoming

At a glance

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).