You inherited an interest in Wyoming, or you are about to. Here is what the state actually requires to put it in your name, what can take it away if you do nothing, where the money goes when the operator cannot find you, and the order to do things in. Written by a mineral buyer who pays for the probate on a committed deal, so read it with that in mind.
Updated November 2026. Written by Stephen Clayman, career landman and owner of Berlin Royalties. Statutes were checked against primary sources; this is general information from a buyer, not legal advice, and the state-specific details are the reason to call a Wyoming attorney, not a substitute for one.
Not necessarily a full one. Wyoming's summary distribution under W.S. 2-1-205 covers estates up to $400,000 and expressly includes mineral interests: a sworn application to the district court, two weeks of publication, mailed notice, and a decree that establishes title. It works for out-of-state decedents too. Larger estates need probate. Wyoming has no dormant mineral act.
Minerals are real property. The W.S. 2-1-201 affidavit of distribution is for personal property only. The tool for minerals is the decree of summary distribution under W.S. 2-1-205: where the decedent's entire estate, less liens, does not exceed $400,000, the distributees may apply to the district court not earlier than 30 days after death, with a sworn application, publication for two consecutive weeks, mailed notice to the spouse, heirs and creditors within ten days, and a sworn report of the value of the Wyoming real property by a disinterested person. The decree is recorded and establishes title. It works whether or not there was a will, and the application must disclose any out-of-state appointment, so it doubles as the ancillary route for nonresidents.
Estates over $400,000 go through probate. Wyoming has no statute making a recorded affidavit of heirship a title instrument.
Yes. W.S. 2-18-101 and following, the Nontestamentary Transfer of Real Property on Death Act, allows a recorded deed conveying an interest in real property effective at the owner's death. The last recorded deed controls, and a Medicaid lien can attach. No mineral exclusion.
No. Wyoming has no statewide dormant mineral statute. A severed interest does not lapse for nonuse.
W.S. 30-5-301 to 30-5-303: first payment within six months after the first day of the month following first sale, then within 60 days after the end of the month of sale, with suspended funds escrowed and 18 percent per year plus attorney fees and costs on late payments. Our letter generator writes the statutory demand, and the full state table is on royalty payment laws by state.
Search Wyoming State Treasurer unclaimed property under the decedent's name and every spelling of it. Mineral proceeds are abandoned after three years. Note that from the 2027 reporting period the Treasurer is folding ongoing royalty remittances for previously reported owners into the annual report rather than monthly, so expect money to appear in the search in yearly batches. Our unclaimed royalties hub covers the search in every state we buy in, and we run it free whether or not you sell.
No Wyoming estate or inheritance tax. Inherited minerals take a federal stepped-up basis. The arithmetic is on our capital gains and depletion page, and a date-of-death appraisal is what documents the basis.
The printable version of that list, with the title path for every state, is our executor's checklist for mineral rights.
Send a photo of whatever you have. We will tell you what the family owns, what it pays, whether any money is sitting in suspense or with the state, what the title needs, and what it is worth, in writing and with the reasoning shown. Free, and the answer is the same whether or not you sell.
Get a Free Valuation Text a Check StubOr call or text 918-984-1645 and ask for Stephen.
A decree of summary distribution under W.S. 2-1-205 if the whole estate is $400,000 or less. It takes a sworn application, two weeks of publication, mailed notice, and a valuation report, and the recorded decree is your title.
You need a Wyoming proceeding of some kind. The summary distribution application disclosing the out-of-state appointment is the usual route for estates under the cap; above it, an ancillary probate.
No. Wyoming has no dormant mineral act.