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WYOMING LEGAL INFORMATION
Last Will and Testament Statutes
Wyoming Probate Code, See Title 2, Section 6.
American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates
American Bar Association, Estate Planning
Selected Wyoming Statutes
- 2-6-101. Right to make and dispose; exception. Any person of legal age and sound mind may make a will and dispose of all of his property by will except what is sufficient to pay his debts, and subject to the rights of the surviving spouse and children.
- 2-6-102. All property deemed passed; "property" defined. A will is construed to pass all property which the testator owns at his death including property acquired after the execution of the will, unless a contrary intention is indicated by the will. "Property", as used in this section, includes both real and personal property, or any interest therein, and means anything that may be the subject of ownership.
- 2-6-103. Property passed may be governed by trust instrument. By a will signed and attested as provided in this article a testator may devise and bequeath real and personal estate to a trustee of a trust which is evidenced by a written instrument in existence when the will is made and which is identified in the will, even though the trust is subject to amendment, modification, revocation or termination. Unless the will provides otherwise the estate so devised and bequeathed is governed by the terms and provisions of the instrument creating the trust including any amendments or modifications in writing made before or after the making of the will and before the death of the testator.
- 2-6-112. Will to be in writing; number and competency of witnesses; signature of testator; subscribing witness not to benefit; exception. Except as provided in the next section [§ 2-6-113], all wills to be valid shall be in writing, or typewritten, witnessed by two (2) competent witnesses and signed by the testator or by some person in his presence and by his express direction. If the witnesses are competent at the time of attesting the execution of the will, their subsequent incompetency shall not prevent the probate and allowance of the will. No subscribing witness to any will can derive any benefit therefrom unless there are two (2) disinterested and competent witnesses to the same, but if without a will the witness would be entitled to any portion of the testator's estate, the witness may still receive the portion to the extent and value of the amount devised.
- 2-6-113. Holographic will. 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.
- 2-6-114. Self-proving wills.
(a) Any will may be simultaneously executed, attested and made self-proven, by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state where execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate under official seal, in form and content substantially as follows:
I, ...., the testator, sign my name to this instrument this .... day of ...., (year), and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my last will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that I am an adult person, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
Testator....
We, ...., ...., the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first duly sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and executes this instrument as his last will and that he signs it willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for him), and that he executes it as his free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, hereby signs this will as witnesses to the testator's signature and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is an adult person, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
Witness .......................
Witness .......................
STATE OF WYOMING . )
..................... ) ss
COUNTY OF .... )
Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by ...., the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by .... and ...., witnesses, this .... day of .... .
(SEAL) (Signed) ..............
(Official Capacity of Officer)............
(b) The execution of the acknowledgment by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses as provided for in this section shall be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the signing of the will by the testator and the witnesses under W.S. 2-6-112.
- 2-6-115. Who may witness. Any person generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will.
- 2-6-116. Validity of execution. A written will is valid if executed in compliance with W.S. 2-6-112 or 2-6-113 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled, has a place of abode or is a national.
- 2-6-117. Revocation by writing or by act.
(a) A will or any part thereof is revoked:
- By a subsequent will which revokes the prior will or part expressly or by inconsistence; or
- By being burned, torn, cancelled, obliterated or destroyed with the intent and for the purpose of revoking it by the testator or by another person in his presence and by his direction.
- 2-6-118. Revocation by divorce or annulment; effect; revival; other changes excluded.
If after executing a will the testator is divorced or his marriage annulled, the divorce or annulment revokes any disposition or appointment of property made by the will to the former spouse, any provision conferring a general or special power of appointment on the former spouse, and any nomination of the former spouse as executor, trustee, conservator or guardian, unless the will expressly provides otherwise. Property prevented from passing to a former spouse because of revocation by divorce or annulment passes as if the former spouse failed to survive the decedent, and other provisions conferring some power or office on the former spouse are interpreted as if the spouse failed to survive the decedent. If provisions are revoked solely by this section, they are revived by testator's remarriage to the former spouse. For purposes of this section, divorce or annulment means any divorce or annulment which would exclude the spouse as a surviving spouse. A decree of separation which does not terminate the status of husband and wife is not a divorce for purposes of this section. No change of circumstances other than as described in this section revokes a will.
- § 2-6-124. Written statement referred to in will disposing of certain personal property.
(a) A will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money, evidences of indebtedness, documents of title, securities and property used in trade or business. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the intended disposition, the writing shall:
- Be dated;
- Be in the handwriting of the testator or signed by him; and
- Include a description of the items and devisees with reasonable certainty.
(b) The written statement or list may be prepared before or after execution of the will, and may be altered by the testator after its preparation which alteration shall be signed and dated by the testator.
(c) The written statement or list may be a writing which has no significance apart from the effect upon the disposition made by the will.
Library of Informational Legal Articles
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