Insolvent Probate Estate Claim-Payment Priority in Wyoming
At a glance
| Statutory payment order | Ten ordered classes when assets are or appear insufficient (§§ 2-7-701–702). |
|---|---|
| Administration costs | Court costs first; other administration costs second (§ 2-7-701(a)(i)–(ii)). |
| Funeral and last illness | Reasonable funeral and burial class 3; reasonable necessary last-illness care class 6 (§ 2-7-701(a)(iii),(vi)). |
| Family and homestead allowances | Allowances under §§ 2-7-503–504 are class 4, after funeral/admin costs; recorded liens preserved (§§ 2-7-701(a)(iv), 2-7-503–504). |
| Taxes and public claims | Federally preferred debts/taxes class 5; preferred Wyoming taxes class 7; public-assistance recovery class 9 (§§ 2-7-701(a), 2-7-707). |
| Secured claims | Family-allowance rank does not invalidate recorded lien; lienholder may credit-bid at estate asset sale (§§ 2-7-503, 2-7-618). |
| Support and special debts | Last-90-day labor debts class 8; public-assistance repayment class 9 (§§ 2-7-701(a)(viii)–(ix), 2-7-707). |
| General claims | All other allowed claims are class 10 (§ 2-7-701(a)(x)). |
| Underfunded class | Short class paid pro rata, with no due over not-yet-due preference (§ 2-7-702). |
Requirements one by one
Ten claim classes
Under § 2-7-701(a), court costs and other administration costs take the first two classes. Reasonable funeral and burial expenses are third, family and exempt-property allowances fourth, federally preferred debts and taxes fifth, and reasonable necessary last-illness care sixth. Wyoming-preferred taxes are seventh, labor performed within 90 days before death eighth, public-assistance recovery ninth, and other allowed claims tenth. Section 2-7-702 requires payment in that order.
Allowances and public assistance
Under § 2-7-503, family allowances precede other charges except funeral and administration costs, without invalidating a recorded mortgage or lien. Exempt property is protected by § 2-7-504, subject to funeral and administration expenses if no other estate property suffices. A public-assistance repayment claim under § 2-7-707 follows the first eight classes and cannot be enforced against property necessary for a surviving spouse's, minor child's, or other dependent's support, maintenance, or education.
Secured claims
Under § 2-7-618, a lienholder may buy mortgaged or pledged property at an estate sale and apply the lien amount to the price. Even an unfiled or unallowed lien may be examined by the court at sale confirmation; the credit treatment itself does not allow a claim based on that lien.
What trips people up
Under § 2-7-702, an underfunded class is paid pro rata, without preference for claims already due over claims of the same class not yet due. Section 2-7-701(a)(ix) places allowed public-assistance claims ahead of the general class, while § 2-7-707 preserves needed dependent support property from that recovery.
Common questions
Do court costs and other administration costs share a class? No. Section 2-7-701(a)(i)–(ii) puts them first and second separately.
Does a family allowance erase a recorded mortgage? No. Section 2-7-503 says the allowance preference does not invalidate a recorded mortgage or lien.
Statutes and sources
- Wyo. Stat. §§ 2-7-701–702, 2-7-503–504, 2-7-707, and 2-7-618. Verbatim official text, section URLs, and access dates appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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