Elder law attorneys in Wyoming work the legal issues facing aging adults and their families: Medicaid planning for long-term care, drafting and updating durable powers of attorney and healthcare directives, guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, special needs trusts, and asset protection. Many also handle probate and estate planning; elder law is the subset focused on care planning and benefits eligibility. The Wyoming healthcare proxy and financial power of attorney forms cover the two instruments.

Federal law, as Wyoming applies it, sets a 5-year lookback period for Medicaid long-term care eligibility. An uncompensated transfer in the five years before the application (a gift, a transfer to a family member, a transfer to a trust that does not qualify) can trigger a penalty period during which Medicaid does not pay for nursing home care. It is why Medicaid planning starts years before the care is needed, and why elder law exists as its own practice area.

Estate planning attorneys in Wyoming average $277Clio Compare Lawyer Rates, Wyoming: Wills and Estates rate (2025 data)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source an hour for wills and estates work. A flat-fee package runs $831Estimate: 3 hours at $277, Clio's Wyoming Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $1,662Estimate: 6 hours at $277, Clio's Wyoming Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for a simple individual will and $3,070Estimate: 10 hours at $307, Clio's Wyoming Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $4,605Estimate: 15 hours at $307, Clio's Wyoming Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source for a basic revocable trust. An online service prices the same documents in the tens to low hundreds of dollars; the Wyoming will cost calculator sets the two side by side.

In Wyoming, estates valued at $400,000Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-201Verified Sep 9, 2026View source or less use the Affidavit for Distribution of Personal PropertyWyo. Stat. § 2-1-201Verified Sep 9, 2026View source, 30 daysWyo. Stat. § 2-1-201Verified Sep 9, 2026View source after death, a court filing short of full probate. That route is a form rather than a court case, and most families handle it without an attorney. Above the line, formal probate generally benefits from counsel for the procedural work, even when nothing is contested. The Wyoming probate calculator estimates the cost by estate value.

In Wyoming, the situations where counsel is typically worth the cost are: a blended family with children from a prior relationship; a business, rental property or significant investment assets; a dependent with special needs, who needs a special-needs trust to keep benefits; substantial property in more than one state. Where none of these apply, an online or self-help document is often enough.

Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Wyoming

Free Wyoming forms for planning an estate or settling one: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed, and the probate forms an executor files.

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Revocable Living Trust

Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.

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Healthcare Power of Attorney

Wyoming allows a choice for a healthcare power of attorney: 2Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-405 (repealed 2007 Ch. 61, § 2)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses or a notary.

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Financial Power of Attorney

Wyoming treats a power of attorney as durable by defaultWyo. Stat. §§ 3-9-101 to 3-9-403 (Uniform Power of Attorney Act, eff. Jan 1, 2018; SF0105, 2017 session; repealed former §§ 3-5-101, 3-5-102)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source, and it is signed with no witness or notary requirementWyo. Stat. §§ 3-9-101 to 3-9-403 (Uniform Power of Attorney Act, eff. Jan 1, 2018; SF0105, 2017 session; repealed former §§ 3-5-101, 3-5-102)Verified Sep 20, 2026View source.

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Last Will and Testament

In Wyoming, a will is signed before 2Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-112Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses, and a self-proving affidavit signed with it lets the court admit it without witness testimonyWyo. Stat. § 2-6-112Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.

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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Wyoming

Free calculators and checklists for planning or settling an estate in Wyoming: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay, and inheritance taxes.

What Does Estate Planning Actually Cost?

An attorney-prepared revocable trust in Wyoming runs $3,070Estimate: 10 hours at $307, Clio's Wyoming Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $4,605Estimate: 15 hours at $307, Clio's Wyoming Trusts rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source and a simple will $831Estimate: 3 hours at $277, Clio's Wyoming Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source to $1,662Estimate: 6 hours at $277, Clio's Wyoming Wills and Estates rate; Compare Lawyer Rates, 2025 dataVerified Oct 15, 2026View source, against $0 to $549 up front plus a subscription with an online service.

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How Much Life Insurance Do I Need?

In Wyoming, four years at a public university cost about $60,976NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2023, Table 330.20, public 4-year in-state tuition, fees, room and board, academic year 2022-23Verified Oct 17, 2026View source and the cost of living is 7% below the U.S. averageBEA Regional Price Parities, all items, by state, 2024Verified Oct 17, 2026View source; no state estate or inheritance tax appliesNo state estate or inheritance tax is payable. Wyoming never repealed its death tax: Wyo. Stat. § 39-19-103(a) still imposes "a tax... on the transfer of property constituting the Wyoming gross estate of every decedent," but § 39-19-103(b) sets the amount at "the maximum state death tax credit allowed to a Wyoming estate as a credit against federal estate taxes under the laws of the United States." That federal credit (former IRC § 2011) was phased out by EGTRRA 2001 and terminated for deaths after Dec 31, 2004 (IRC § 2011(g)), so the Wyoming tax computes to $0 for every death on or after January 1, 2005. Despite the chapter caption "Inheritance Taxes," Chapter 19 is a pick-up estate tax — Wyoming has no relationship-class inheritance tax and no state gift or generation-skipping transfer tax.Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

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What Are the Estate Laws in My State?

Probate on a $500,000 estate in Wyoming costs an estimated $21,210Wyo. Stat. § 2-7-804 (10% of first $1K, 5% of next $4K, 3% of next $15K, 2% thereafter)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source and takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate, with attorney fees set by statute as a percentage of the gross estateWyo. Stat. § 2-7-804 (10% of first $1K, 5% of next $4K, 3% of next $15K, 2% thereafter)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source. Estates under $400,000Wyo. Stat. § 2-1-201Verified Sep 9, 2026View source can use a small-estate procedure instead.

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Do I Need a Revocable Trust?

Probate in Wyoming takes 4 months to 6 months for a simple estate and charges attorney fees set by statute as a percentage of the gross estateWyo. Stat. § 2-7-804 (10% of first $1K, 5% of next $4K, 3% of next $15K, 2% thereafter)Verified Sep 9, 2026View source; assets held in a revocable trust skip both.

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Are My Beneficiary Designations Protected?

Wyoming automatically revokes an ex-spouse as beneficiary at divorceWyo. Stat. § 2-6-125 (§ 2-6-118 repealed by Laws 2023, ch. 140, § 2)Verified Sep 15, 2026View source; employer plans under ERISA follow federal rules either way, so a 401(k) beneficiary changes only by a new designation.

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