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Wyoming lets your witnesses attend by video and sign your will electronically — and unlike New Hampshire, it does not require a lawyer to run the ceremony. W.S. § 2-6-112(b) puts remote appearance and secure electronic signing directly into the ordinary execution statute, available to anyone. Wyoming is stricter than most states in one respect, though: a handwritten will must be entirely in your handwriting, not merely its material portions. Dower and curtesy are abolished, and Wyoming collects no death tax. Every rule below cites the Wyoming Statutes.
Most Wyoming adults can finish a legally valid will in under an hour.
Two competent witnesses — in person or by video — a signature, and clear wishes. That’s the whole requirement. An online service like Trust & Will prepares a Wyoming-specific will with the witness pages ready to sign.
Disclosure: we earn a commission if you buy through the Trust & Will links here, at no extra cost to you. Complex situations belong with an attorney and we say so below.
Wyoming Will Requirements (2026)
| Requirement | Wyoming rule | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| In writing | “In writing, or typewritten” — the statute says both | § 2-6-112(a) |
| Signed | By the testator, or by some person in his presence and by his express direction | § 2-6-112(a) |
| Witnessed | Two competent witnesses — who may appear in person or by audio-video | § 2-6-112(a), (b) |
| Notarized | Not required for validity — the notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit | § 2-6-114 |
A useful piece of protection sits in the same subsection: if your witnesses were competent at the time of attesting, their later incompetency does not prevent the will being probated. A witness who develops dementia years afterward does not put your will at risk.
Do not let a beneficiary witness your Wyoming will
Section 2-6-112(a) provides that no subscribing witness can derive any benefit from the will unless there are two disinterested and competent witnesses to it. The one softening: if the witness would have been entitled to a portion of your estate without a will, they may still receive that portion, to the extent and value of the amount devised.
In practice, that means a gift to a witness is capped at what they would have inherited by intestacy anyway — and reduced to nothing if they would have inherited nothing. Use two disinterested witnesses and the question never arises.
Wyoming’s Remote Witnessing Rule — Open to Everyone
Most states that permit remote witnessing either built a whole electronic wills act or attached conditions. Wyoming did neither. It added one subsection to the ordinary execution statute:
“Witnesses to a will may appear in person or by the use of audio-video communication technology, provided that the witnesses can see and hear the testator in real time, have the opportunity to judge the competency of the testator, have the ability to securely sign the will electronically and can determine that the testator is freely and voluntarily signing and executing the will.” — W.S. § 2-6-112(b)
Four conditions, all about the quality of the observation: real-time sight and sound, the opportunity to judge competency, the ability to sign securely by electronic means, and satisfaction that you are signing freely and voluntarily.
What is conspicuously absent is a gatekeeper. New Hampshire permits remote witnessing only where the notarial officer is the New Hampshire attorney who drafted the will, another NH attorney under that attorney’s supervision, or a supervised paralegal — which puts the provision out of reach of anyone using an online service or writing their own. Wyoming attaches no such condition. The provision is available to any Wyoming testator.
For a state where the nearest two disinterested adults may be a long drive away, that is a genuinely practical rule rather than a novelty. The self-proving affidavit forms in § 2-6-114 carry matching bracketed language for a witness “appearing through the use of audio-video communication technology” who “electronically signed the will by secure means.”
One distinction worth being precise about. This is not an electronic will. Wyoming has not adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, and there is no such thing as a standalone Wyoming electronic will the way there is in North Dakota, Idaho or DC. What Wyoming allows is remote witnessing of an otherwise ordinary will, with those witnesses signing by secure electronic means. The document is still a Wyoming will under § 2-6-112.
Handwritten Wills: Wyoming Wants the Whole Thing in Your Hand
Section 2-6-113 recognizes holographic wills, but read the wording carefully:
“A will which does not comply with W.S. 2-6-112 is valid as an holographic will, whether or not witnessed, if it is entirely in the handwriting of the testator and signed by the hand of the testator himself.”
Entirely. That is a materially stricter standard than the Uniform Probate Code version used by Montana, South Dakota, Alaska and North Dakota, which asks only that the signature and material portions be handwritten. In those states a preprinted form with the operative terms filled in by hand can qualify. In Wyoming it cannot — the printed words are not yours.
No date is required either way. But the practical warning is the familiar one: the hybrid document — part printed, part handwritten, no witnesses — satisfies neither route, and it is how homemade wills most often fail.
Dying Without a Will in Wyoming
Wyoming abolished dower and curtesy outright — § 2-4-101(b): “Dower and the tenancy by the curtesy are abolished and neither husband nor wife shall have any share in the estate of the other dying intestate, save as herein provided.” What remains is short:
| Your situation | What your spouse receives |
|---|---|
| Spouse and no children or descendants of children | The entire real and personal estate (§ 2-4-101(a)(ii)) |
| Spouse and children (or descendants of children) | One-half of the estate — the residue to the children (§ 2-4-101(a)(i)) |
Two features worth naming.
First, there is no parent tier. A childless Wyoming spouse takes everything even if your parents survive you — the same result as in South Dakota, and unlike most Uniform Probate Code states, which carve out a share for surviving parents.
Second, Wyoming does not ask whose children they are. Children you had together produce the same one-half split as children from an earlier relationship. There is no dollar setaside protecting the spouse first either. On a $600,000 estate with two children you had together, your spouse takes $300,000 and the children take $300,000 — and if the estate is mostly the ranch, that means co-ownership from the day you die.
Wyoming Death Taxes: the Chapter Survives, the Tax Does Not
Wyoming Statutes Title 39, chapter 19 is still captioned “Inheritance Taxes,” and you will find sources that read that heading and conclude Wyoming has one. It does not collect one, and the reason is in the text.
Section 39-19-103(b) sets the amount of tax as “the maximum state death tax credit allowed to a Wyoming estate as a credit against federal estate taxes,” and § 39-19-104 states the purpose outright — the chapter is “intended to take full advantage for Wyoming of the credit which is allowed as a deduction from the federal estate tax liability… without increasing the aggregate of federal and state death, transfer or succession taxes upon any estate.”
That is a pure “pick-up” tax: it exists only to capture a federal credit at no cost to the estate. Congress replaced that credit with a deduction for deaths after 2004. The thing Wyoming’s tax measures itself against no longer exists, so the computation yields nothing.
Wyoming is the fourth state we have documented in this position, alongside Arkansas, West Virginia and Montana. Compare the states in our state-by-state comparison.
What a Will Costs in Wyoming
| Route | Typical cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Handwritten | $0 | Valid only if entirely in your handwriting and signed by your hand — a filled-in form does not qualify |
| Online service | $199 individual / $299 couple | Wyoming-specific will with witness pages — and Wyoming’s video-witnessing rule is open to you |
| Wyoming attorney | Flat fees vary — Jackson runs well above the rest of the state | Custom drafting and counsel, particularly for ranch succession and mineral interests |
Online pricing verified against Trust & Will’s published rates (August 2026). The Wyoming State Bar publishes no fee survey, so we quote no attorney figures we can’t source. See how Wyoming compares with the rest of the country.
One Wyoming caution. If your estate includes ranch land or mineral rights, an online will is unlikely to be the whole answer. Splitting an operation among children who do not all ranch, and keeping severed mineral interests from fracturing across generations of heirs, are attorney questions.
What a Wyoming Will Does Not Do
1. A will does not avoid probate. Wyoming probate is a district court process on the public record. Wyoming offers transfer-on-death deeds for real estate. See what a living trust costs in Wyoming and our guide to avoiding probate.
2. A will does not remove your spouse’s elective share. Wyoming gives a surviving spouse a statutory right to elect against the will.
3. A will does not cover incapacity, and does not override beneficiary designations. Pair it with a durable power of attorney and a health care directive — see the five documents every family needs.
Will vs. Trust for Wyoming Families
Every Wyoming adult needs a will. Without one, your spouse splits the estate with your children even when every child is one you had together, and no default rule names a guardian for them.
With no death tax collected, the Wyoming trust question is about probate avoidance, privacy, keeping land and mineral interests intact — and the fact that Wyoming is one of the country’s leading trust jurisdictions, with dynasty trusts and strong asset-protection law. That last point is why people from other states form trusts here, which is a different question from whether you need one. Start with Trust vs. Will: Which Does Your Family Need? and the numbers in our Wyoming living trust cost guide.
If the will is what you need today, Trust & Will’s Wyoming package includes the witness pages, guardianship nominations, and healthcare documents — build your Wyoming will here.
FAQ
Does a will have to be notarized in Wyoming?
No. Validity takes your signature and two competent witnesses (§ 2-6-112). The notary appears only in the optional self-proving affidavit (§ 2-6-114).
Can my witnesses watch me sign over video in Wyoming?
Yes. Section 2-6-112(b) permits witnesses to appear in person or by audio-video communication technology, provided they can see and hear you in real time, can judge your competency, can securely sign the will electronically, and can determine you are signing freely and voluntarily. Wyoming attaches no attorney requirement — unlike New Hampshire, where the route runs only through the attorney who drafted the will.
Are handwritten wills legal in Wyoming?
Yes, with no witnesses — but the will must be entirely in your handwriting and signed by your own hand (§ 2-6-113). A preprinted form with handwritten blanks does not qualify, unlike in most Uniform Probate Code states, which require only the signature and material portions to be handwritten.
Can I make an electronic will in Wyoming?
Not as such. Wyoming has not adopted the Uniform Electronic Wills Act. What it permits is remote witnessing of an ordinary will under § 2-6-112(b), with witnesses signing by secure electronic means — the will itself is still a conventional Wyoming will.
What happens if I die without a will in Wyoming?
Your spouse takes the entire estate if you leave no children or descendants of children. If you leave children, your spouse takes one-half and the children take the residue — whether or not they are also your spouse’s children (§ 2-4-101). Dower and curtesy are abolished.
Does Wyoming have an estate or inheritance tax?
No tax is collected. Title 39, chapter 19 survives but measures the tax by the maximum federal state death tax credit (§§ 39-19-103, 39-19-104) — a credit Congress eliminated for deaths after 2004 — and the chapter expressly disclaims any intent to increase the total tax on an estate.
Wyoming Law Cited on This Page
- Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-112 — will to be in writing; witnesses; audio-video appearance
- Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-113 — holographic will
- Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-114 — self-proving wills
- Wyo. Stat. § 2-4-101 — rule of descent; dower and curtesy abolished
- Wyo. Stat. §§ 39-19-103, 39-19-104 — imposition and rate of the inheritance tax
Update log — August 2026: page created. Execution, audio-video witnessing, holographic, intestacy and death-tax rules verified against the official Wyoming Statutes published by the Wyoming Legislature. Reviewed when Wyoming law changes.