Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Wyoming, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Wyoming’s intestacy statute (Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 2-4-101 (Rule of descent; generally; dower and curtesy abolished); 2-4-104 (Kindred of half blood; stepchildren; foster children)) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Wyoming residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 2-4-101 (Rule of descent; generally; dower and curtesy abolished); 2-4-104 (Kindred of half blood; stepchildren; foster children) and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Wyo. Stat. section 2-4-101(a)(ii): if the intestate leaves a spouse and no child nor descendants of any child, the real and personal estate descends and vests in the surviving spouse.
When it is less than everything: Only two scenarios, and NO blended-family reduction exists in Wyoming. Section 2-4-101(a)(i): if the intestate leaves a spouse AND children (or descendants of children), exactly one-half (1/2) of the estate goes to the surviving spouse and the residue to the surviving children/descendants; this 1/2 share is identical whether or not the children are shared with the spouse; Wyoming’s statute draws no distinction based on whose descendants survive, unlike the UPC-model states. Section 2-4-101(a)(ii): if spouse survives with no children/descendants, spouse takes the entire estate. Wyoming is the outlier of this group: an old-style fixed-fraction descent statute rather than a Uniform Probate Code formula (no dollar-amount tiers, no fractional tiers keyed to whose descendants survive).
(i) If the intestate leaves husband or wife and children, or the descendents of any children surviving, one-half (1/2) of the estate shall descend to the surviving husband or wife, and the residue thereof to the surviving children and descendents of children, as hereinafter limited; (ii) If the intestate leaves husband or wife and no child nor descendents of any child, then the real and personal estate of the intestate shall descend and vest in the surviving husband or wife.
Source: Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 2-4-101 (Rule of descent; generally; dower and curtesy abolished); 2-4-104 (Kindred of half blood; stepchildren; foster children)
If a DIY will fits your situation in Wyoming
In Wyoming, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
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Who inherits if there is no spouse
Section 2-4-101(c): (i) to children surviving and descendants of deceased children, taking collectively the share their parent would have taken; (ii) if none, to father, mother, brothers, sisters, and descendants of deceased brothers/sisters, collectively, in equal parts; (iii) if none of the above nor a spouse, to grandfather, grandmother, uncles, aunts, and their descendants, collectively taking their immediate ancestor’s share, in equal parts.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share, but with a notable carve-out for step/foster children. Wyo. Stat. section 2-4-104: ‘Persons of the half-blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood, but stepchildren and foster children and their descendents do not inherit.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Wyoming property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.