Wyoming Probate Bond
Wyoming requires a probate bond by default. W.S. § 2-3-102 makes it flat: every person receiving letters testamentary or of administration shall execute a bond before receiving them. That’s the opposite of Colorado, Utah, and Montana next door — all three adopted the Uniform Probate Code’s presumption against bond. Wyoming never did.
The bond amount isn’t the estate’s total value, though — it’s personal property plus one year’s probable income from real estate, not the land itself. That distinction matters most on Wyoming’s ranch and agricultural estates, where land value can run into the millions while the bond penalty stays a fraction of it.
What the § 2-3-102 bond penalty is actually built from
The penalty “shall not be less than the value of the personal property, and the probable value of the annual rents, profits and issues of real property belonging to the estate.” Two inputs, and only one of them touches real estate — and even that one is capped at a year’s income, not the asset’s worth.
W.S. § 2-3-102 — what goes into the bond penalty
Personal property value plus real property income, not real property value
| Category | Treatment |
|---|---|
| Counts toward the § 2-3-102 penalty | Cash, vehicles, equipment, securities, livestock — all personal property, at current value |
| Counts toward the § 2-3-102 penalty | Probable ANNUAL rents, profits & issues from real property — not the land’s value |
| Does NOT count — until sold | Real property principal value (the land, buildings, or mineral estate itself) |
| Added later, if triggered | Additional bond under § 2-3-105 sized to probable sale proceeds, once a real estate sale is ordered |
Additional bond under § 2-3-105 can be ordered later if real estate is sold during administration; see the ranch-estate section below.
Wyoming Personal Representative Bond (W.S. § 2-3-102)
W.S. § 2-3-102 — Wyoming Statutes, Title 2, Chapter 3, Article 1. Value ascertained by the district court, commissioner, or clerk 'by examining on oath the party applying and any other person.'
Two or more individual sureties can back the bond, or one corporate surety — either way, approval comes from the district court, its commissioner, or the clerk. Individual sureties have to “justify on written oath attached to the bond in an amount equal in the aggregate to the penalty” — effectively proving personal net worth covering the full bond. A corporate surety like ours skips that friction entirely.
Qualifying after appointment: oath, bond, and a hard deadline
Being named personal representative and actually holding letters testamentary or of administration are two different moments in Wyoming. The gap between them is called qualifying, and W.S. § 2-3-104 puts a clock on it.
District court issues the appointment order
The order fixes venue — the county of the decedent’s residence, or where any part of the estate sits for a nonresident decedent (W.S. § 2-2-102) — and states the deadline to qualify.
Take the oath
W.S. § 2-3-101 requires a sworn oath to perform the duties of executor or administrator "according to law," attached to the letters.
Execute and file the bond
Two or more individual sureties who justify their net worth on oath, or one corporate surety, approved by the district court, its commissioner, or the clerk (W.S. § 2-3-102, § 2-2-106, § 2-2-203).
Clerk records the letters and bond
W.S. § 2-3-103 requires the clerk of court to record the letters testamentary or of administration and the bond, with any affidavits and certificates attached.
Miss the deadline and the appointment lapses
W.S. § 2-3-104: failing to qualify — oath and bond — within the time fixed voids the appointment and the court appoints the next person in priority.
None of the five steps requires a hearing on the merits — W.S. § 2-2-106 lets a court commissioner examine and approve bonds directly, and W.S. § 2-2-203 gives the clerk of the district court authority to approve bonds too. That’s why a properly prepared bond application can move fast even though the underlying statute reads like a formal court process.
A will’s no-bond clause is a starting position, not a guarantee
W.S. § 2-3-111(a) gives three ways to skip the bond entirely: the will expressly says no bond is required, a statute says so, or every distributee waives the requirement in writing. Any one of those lets letters issue without a bond ever being filed.
Waiver holds — for now
Will names you and expressly waives bond, or every distributee signs a written waiver. Letters issue with just the oath under § 2-3-101.
Waiver can be pulled back
§ 2-3-111(c): bond can be required “at any time afterward” if it appears necessary. § 2-3-112: a sworn waste allegation suspends your powers immediately — even with a will waiver on file.
Real estate sales get a narrower version of the same rule: § 2-3-111(b) lets sales proceed without a bond when one was waived — unless the court, for good cause, requires one anyway. So a waived bond doesn’t just risk revocation on a waste allegation; a contested or unusual property sale can trigger the same result on its own. If your estate is large, has disputes among heirs, or holds real estate that’s likely to sell, treat a will’s waiver as provisional and keep a surety relationship ready rather than assuming the bond question is closed.
Ranch and agricultural estates: the land isn’t in the bond math — until it’s sold
Wyoming has more working ranches and agricultural estates per capita than almost any state that writes probate bonds, and § 2-3-102’s formula treats them very differently than a straight percentage-of-estate rule would. Because the penalty is personal property value plus probable annual rents, profits, and issues of real property, the land’s market value never enters the calculation on the original bond.
Worked example
$4,100,000
Appraised ranch land value — not counted toward the bond penalty
$255,000
$220,000 livestock & equipment (personal property) + $35,000 grazing lease/mineral royalty income
That $255,000 — not the $4.1 million land value — is roughly the § 2-3-102 bond penalty on this estate. The gap is the point: a large ranch estate can bond for a fraction of its headline net worth, as long as the land itself stays unsold during administration.
That changes the moment a sale is ordered. W.S. § 2-3-105 lets the district court require additional bond whenever real estate is sold, sized to “the probable amount to be realized on the sale of real estate ordered sold” — unless the existing bond already covers that amount along with the personal property and rental income. § 2-3-106 requires the new sureties on that additional bond to justify exactly as they did on the original one. Sell 2,000 acres or a mineral interest mid-administration, and expect a second bond conversation sized to the sale proceeds, separate from the original § 2-3-102 penalty.
Practical implication for ranch executors: get the personal property (livestock counts, equipment, vehicles) appraised early and precisely — it drives the entire original bond — and flag any planned land or mineral sale to your surety before the sale is ordered, not after, since the additional-bond requirement attaches to the court’s sale order itself.
What a Wyoming bond penalty costs to carry
The bond penalty is coverage, not premium. What you pay is a small annual percentage of that number, priced mainly off the personal representative’s own credit rather than the estate.
Wyoming Probate Bond Premium by Credit Tier
Based on a $326,500 bond amount
- Excellent (740+)Rate: 0.5%$1,633 / yr
- Very Good (700–739)Rate: 0.6% – 0.85%$1,959 – $2,775 / yr
- Good (650–699)Rate: 0.85% – 1.25%$2,775 – $4,081 / yr
- Fair (600–649)Rate: 1.25% – 1.75%$4,081 – $5,714 / yr
- Below 600Rate: 1.75% – 3%$5,714 – $9,795 / yr
Premiums annualized on the $326,500 § 2-3-102 worked example above; a ranch estate bonding at $255,000 or a larger estate at $1M+ scales proportionally at the same credit tier.
Filing costs run separately from the bond premium: Wyoming charges a $110 original filing fee plus a $40 court automation fee for every probate matter (W.S. § 2-2-401), with additional value-based fees once an inventory or appraisement is filed. Those go to the district court clerk, not the surety.
Getting your Wyoming probate bond filed
Official Wyoming Requirements
"Except as provided by W.S. 2-3-111, every person to whom letters testamentary or of administration are issued shall, before receiving them, execute a bond to the state of Wyoming with two (2) or more sufficient individual sureties or one (1) sufficient corporate surety approved by the district court or the commissioner or clerk. The bond shall be joint and several and the penalty shall not be less than the value of the personal property, and the probable value of the annual rents, profits and issues of real property belonging to the estate."Wyoming Legislative Service Office — Wyoming Statutes Title 2 • W.S. § 2-3-102
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What Wyoming fiduciaries ask about this bond
Why does Wyoming require a probate bond when Colorado, Utah, and Montana don’t?
Those three neighbors all adopted the Uniform Probate Code, which flips the default so bond is the exception — required only if a will demands it, a special administrator is appointed, or an interested party forces the issue. Wyoming never adopted that presumption. W.S. § 2-3-102 states plainly that "every person to whom letters testamentary or of administration are issued shall, before receiving them, execute a bond" — bond is the starting point, not something that gets triggered. The only way around it is one of the three routes in W.S. § 2-3-111: the will expressly waives it, a statute waives it, or every distributee waives it in writing. If your estate crosses from Wyoming into Colorado, Utah, or Montana — a ranch that spans the border, for example — expect a materially different bond conversation depending on which state’s district court is handling probate.
If the will waives bond, am I actually in the clear?
Not permanently. W.S. § 2-3-111(c) says that "if it appears necessary for any reason at any time afterward, the personal representative may be required to file a bond as in other cases" — the waiver doesn’t close the question, it just defers it. The sharpest version of this shows up in W.S. § 2-3-112: if anyone files a sworn allegation that you’re wasting estate property, the judge or commissioner can suspend your powers immediately, before a hearing, even though the will originally excused you from bond. And under § 2-3-111(b), a will’s bond waiver only protects real estate sales "unless the court for good cause requires one to be executed" — so a contested sale can pull the bond requirement back even without a waste allegation. Treat a will’s no-bond clause as a starting position you can lose, not a permanent exemption.
How is the bond amount actually calculated — does it include the value of the land?
No, and this is the detail people miss. W.S. § 2-3-102 sets the bond penalty at "not less than the value of the personal property, and the probable value of the annual rents, profits and issues of real property belonging to the estate." That’s personal property (cash, vehicles, equipment, securities, livestock) plus one year’s expected INCOME from real estate — not the real estate’s principal value. The district court, or the commissioner or clerk approving the bond, ascertains that figure "by examining on oath the party applying and any other person." If you’re executing a $2 million personal property estate with $30,000 in expected annual rental income, your bond penalty is roughly $2,030,000 — the real estate itself never enters the math unless it gets sold.
What happens if I miss the deadline to post bond after being appointed?
W.S. § 2-3-104 requires the court’s appointment order to state a specific deadline for you to "qualify by giving bond and taking oath." Miss that window and the statute is unambiguous: "his appointment shall lapse and another appointment shall be made." There’s no grace period built into the statute itself — the next person in the order of priority steps in. Because the oath (W.S. § 2-3-101) and the bond (§ 2-3-102) both have to be complete before letters testamentary or of administration actually issue, get your surety application moving the same week you’re named, not after you’ve confirmed every asset figure. A rough personal property estimate that qualifies you now beats a precise one that qualifies you too late.
How does a ranch or agricultural estate get bonded when the land is worth millions?
This is where W.S. § 2-3-102’s formula works in the estate’s favor — initially. Because the penalty is built from personal property value plus probable annual real-property income, a ranch with $4 million in land but only $220,000 in livestock and equipment (personal property) and $35,000 in annual grazing-lease or mineral-royalty income (the real property’s "issues") bonds at roughly $255,000, not $4 million. That changes the moment the land or mineral rights are sold: W.S. § 2-3-105 lets the district court require an additional bond tied to "the probable amount to be realized on the sale of real estate ordered sold," and § 2-3-106 requires the new sureties to justify exactly as they did on the original bond. If your ranch estate plan includes selling acreage or a mineral interest during administration, budget for a second bond application timed to that sale — don’t assume the original penalty covers it.
Can Wyoming estates skip probate — and the bond question — entirely?
For smaller estates, yes, through the affidavit procedure in W.S. § 2-1-201 rather than through any probate bond exemption. Once at least 30 days have passed since death, a distributee can collect the decedent’s Wyoming personal property using a sworn affidavit if the entire in-state estate — testate or intestate, less liens and encumbrances — is valued at $400,000 or less, no personal representative has been appointed or is pending, and no other distributee has a superior claim. Because no personal representative is ever appointed, the W.S. § 2-3-102 bond requirement never comes into play — there’s no letters testamentary or administration issued, and no bond to attach to them. Real estate transfers and larger estates still route through district court, oath, and bond.
All content is researched from official state and federal sources (.gov) and verified before publication. BuySuretyBonds.com works with Treasury-certified, A-minimum rated surety carriers serving all 50 states.
General information, not legal, tax, or underwriting advice. Wyoming probate bond requirements, qualification deadlines, and waiver limits are set by statute (W.S. §§ 2-1-201, 2-2-102, 2-2-106, 2-2-203, 2-2-401, 2-3-101 through 2-3-112, and 2-1-301) and by the practice of the district court handling your matter, and they change over time. Confirm the current requirement and any qualification deadline with the court handling your estate — and with Wyoming probate counsel on appointment, waiver, and waste-allegation questions — before relying on this page, then request a quote for your specific bond form and amount.
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