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SF0091 • 2021

Probate-discovered property publication requirements.

AN ACT relating to wills, estates and probate; specifying fees that can be charged for publications required for determination of heirship notices; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Inactive

Wyoming marks this bill as inactive, which usually means it is no longer moving in the current session.

Sponsor
Senator Kost
Last action
2021-04-07
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2021

Plain English Breakdown

The bill text does not explicitly mention mailing of notices simultaneously with the first publication, only publishing in newspapers.

Publication Fees for Probate Notices

The bill sets limits on the fees that newspapers can charge when publishing notices required in probate cases to determine heirship.

What This Bill Does

  • Limits the fees charged by newspapers for publishing notices needed to find heirs of someone who died without a will or whose will needs clarification.
  • Requires these publications to be at the lowest rate for display advertising or open local display advertising, whichever is less.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People involved in probate proceedings who need to publish heirship notices.
  • Newspapers publishing these legal notices.

Terms To Know

Heirship
The process of identifying and confirming the rightful heirs or beneficiaries when someone dies without a will or with an unclear will.
Probate
A legal process that deals with the assets of someone who has died, including distributing their property according to their will or state law.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if a newspaper charges more than allowed.
  • It is unclear how this act affects notices published before its effective date.
  • This bill was marked as inactive and did not become law in the current session.

Bill History

  1. 2021-04-07 Senate

    S:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to SR 5-4

  2. 2021-03-19 Senate

    S No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2021-02-05 Senate

    S Introduced and Referred to S01 - Judiciary

  4. 2021-02-05 Senate

    S Received for Introduction

  5. 2021-02-05 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
21LSO-0342
2021
STATE OF WYOMING
21LSO-0342
Introduced
2.0

SENATE FILE NO. SF0091

Probate-discovered property publication requirements.

Sponsored by: Senator(s) Kost, Driskill, Gierau, Pappas, Perkins and Schuler and Representative(s) Harshman and Henderson

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to wills, estates and probate; specifying fees that can be charged for publications required for determination of heirship notices; specifying applicability; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 2
‑
9
‑
202 and 2
‑
9
‑
204(b) are amended to read:

2
‑
9
‑
202.

Application by petition two years after death; fixing time for hearing; notice thereof; contents; fee limitations.

Upon filing the petition the court shall fix a time for hearing the petition not less than thirty (30) days after the filing thereof. Notice of the time and place of hearing shall be given to all persons interested in the proceeding including creditors, heirs and devisees, setting forth the filing of the petition, the date of the supposed death of the deceased, his place of residence, a description of the real property or interest therein of which he died seized or a description of the real property on which he had made an entry but had not yet received patent and the interest in the real estate of the petitioner. The notice shall be published once a week in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for four (4) consecutive weeks prior to the hearing, and shall be mailed simultaneously with the first publication to those persons designated in W.S. 2
‑
7
‑
205.
Notices required to be published under this section shall be published and charged at a rate not to exceed the amount charged by a newspaper to counties under W.S. 18
‑
3
‑
518(a), at the lowest rate for display advertising or at the open local display advertising rate, whichever is less.

2
‑
9
‑
204.

Procedure when applicant for public land dies and patent issued to heirs; publication fee limitations.

(b)

Notice of the time and place for hearing the petition shall be given by publishing notice thereof at least once each week for three (3) successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the county and the mailing of true copies to all known heirs of the deceased person at least ten (10) days prior to the date fixed for the hearing. Proof of publication and mailing shall be made to the court upon the hearing.
Notices required to be published under this subsection shall be published and charged at a rate not to exceed the amount charged by a newspaper to counties under W.S. 18
‑
3
‑
518(a), at the lowest rate for display advertising or at the open local display advertising rate, whichever is less.

Any time before the date fixed for the hearing any person interested in the lands as heir at law or devisee of the decedent or as the grantee of any such heir at law or devisee, may answer the petition and deny any of the matters contained therein. At the time fixed for the hearing or at such time thereafter
as may be fixed by the court, the court shall hear the proofs offered by petitioner and any person answering the same, and shall make a decree conformable to the proofs. The decree shall have the same force and effect as decrees entered in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Section 2
.

The provisions of this act shall apply to petitions filed under W.S. 2
‑
9
‑
202 and 2
‑
9
‑
204 on or after the effective date of this act.

Section 3
.

This act is effective July 1, 2021
.

(END)

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SF0091