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HB0238 • 2023

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
Representative Northrup
Last action
2023-02-07
Official status
inactive
Effective date
3/1/2023

Plain English Breakdown

The official status indicates the bill is inactive.

Publication Fees for Probate Notices

The bill sets limits on the fees that can be charged for publishing notices required in probate proceedings and specifies when these rules apply.

What This Bill Does

  • Sets a limit on how much newspapers can charge for publishing notices needed to determine heirship during probate, ensuring the rate does not exceed what is typically charged to counties by the same newspaper at either the lowest display advertising rate or open local display advertising rate, whichever is lower.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People involved in probate proceedings who need to publish notices.
  • Newspapers publishing legal notices for probate cases.

Terms To Know

Probate
The process of administering a deceased person's estate, including distributing their property according to the will or state law.
Heirship
The legal right to inherit from someone who has died without leaving a valid will.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This bill is marked as inactive and was not passed during the current session.
  • It does not specify what happens for petitions filed before July 1, 2023.

Bill History

  1. 2023-02-07 House

    H:Died in Committee Returned Bill Pursuant to HR 5-4

  2. 2023-02-07 House

    H No report prior to CoW Cutoff

  3. 2023-01-31 House

    H Introduced and Referred to H04 - Education

  4. 2023-01-25 House

    H Received for Introduction

  5. 2023-01-24 LSO

    Bill Number Assigned

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
23LSO-0259
2023
STATE OF WYOMING
23LSO-0259
Numbered
2.0

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0238

Probate-discovered property publication requirements.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Northrup, Brown, Clouston, Henderson and Olsen and Senator(s) Case

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 purchased 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 purchased 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 and after the effective date of this act.

Section 3
.

This act is effective July 1, 2023
.

(END)

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HB0238