Wyoming

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 90 out of 100

Wyoming leaves both property division, which can reach separately owned property, and alimony to the judge’s sense of what is just, with fault allowed in both. A party may remove the assigned judge once without cause. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Wyoming ranks 42 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	20 / 20	The court disposes of the property of the parties, including separately owned property, as appears just and equitable, and the statute does not require or presume equal division. Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-114(a); Metz v. Metz, 2003 WY 3, ¶ 8; Innes v. Innes, 2021 WY 124, ¶ 15
Alimony	20 / 20	The court may decree reasonable alimony out of the other spouse’s estate having regard for that spouse’s ability to pay, with no formula, factor list, or cap. Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-114(a)
Fault	20 / 20	The statute directs regard for the respective merits of the parties, and the state supreme court has upheld consideration of fault in property division and alimony. Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-114(a); Grosskopf v. Grosskopf, 677 P.2d 814 (Wyo. 1984) (not yet checked against the source)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	In every divorce action the court may require either party to pay any sum necessary to enable the other to carry on or defend the action. Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-111
Second opinion	10 / 20	A party may peremptorily disqualify the assigned district judge once by a timely motion in any civil case other than criminal and juvenile matters. W.R.C.P. 40.1(b)(1)

Getting in

No waiting period. One of the parties applies to any Wyoming county clerk, and the statutes set no waiting period. The license expires one year after issue, and the couple must then get a new one. A judge can waive certain licensing requirements when circumstances call for it.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 20-1-103, 20-1-105, 18-3-402(a)(xvi)(F)

Who can marry you. Judges, district court commissioners, magistrates, and licensed or ordained ministers, priests, rabbis or other qualified persons acting under a religion’s traditions may officiate. A religious society may also perform the ceremony under its own rites. Two witnesses must attend. The statute does not address online ordination, and a marriage stands if a spouse fully believed the officiant was authorized.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 20-1-106, 20-1-107, 20-1-109, 20-1-110

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot form a common-law marriage in Wyoming. A marriage valid under the law of the state where it was contracted is valid in Wyoming, and the Wyoming Supreme Court has honored a valid Texas common-law marriage.
Roberts v. Roberts, 58 Wyo. 438, 133 P.2d 492 (1943); Wyo. Stat. § 20-1-111; Bowers v. Wyoming State Treasurer, 593 P.2d 182 (Wyo. 1979)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Wyoming is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Wyoming is an all-property state with no marital or separate category in its divorce statute. The judge makes a just and equitable division of the parties’ property, weighing their merits, how they will be left, and through whom the property came. A spouse’s separate property, including premarital and inherited property, can be distributed.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 20-2-114, 20-1-201; Odegard v. Odegard, 2003 WY 67, 69 P.3d 917; Humphrey v. Humphrey, 2007 WY 72, 157 P.3d 451

An inheritance that touches a joint account

A judge can reach it either way. An inheritance can be divided whether or not it touches a joint account. The statute lists through whom property came as a factor, and the Wyoming Supreme Court says it has set no fixed rules for a gift or inheritance. A judge may give it back to the heir, but no rule requires that.
Humphrey v. Humphrey, 2007 WY 72, 157 P.3d 451; France v. France, 902 P.2d 701 (Wyo. 1995); Holland v. Holland, 2001 WY 113, 35 P.3d 409; Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-114

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

Both of you can be liable from the first dollar. The necessary expenses of the family and the education of the children are chargeable on the property of both husband and wife, or either of them, and they may be sued jointly or separately; a spouse is not liable for debts the other contracted before marriage without a written assumption.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 20-1-201, 20-1-202(e)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

A surviving spouse whom the will deprives of more than the elective share may elect one-half of the property subject to disposition under the will (after funeral and administration expenses, allowances and claims), or one-fourth if the survivor is not a parent of any of the decedent’s surviving issue; the share reaches only the probate estate.
Wyo. Stat. § 2-5-101

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

Wyoming treats antenuptial agreements as contracts governed by the ordinary rules of contract construction, and a divorce court must enforce them unless it states a cogent reason for refusing. No Wyoming decision opened adopts a changed-circumstances review at divorce.
Lund v. Lund, 849 P.2d 731 (Wyo. 1993); Bradley v. Bradley, No. 04-139 (Wyo. 2005) (not yet checked against the source)

What an agreement needs. An agreement made upon consideration of marriage is void unless it or a memorandum is in writing and signed by the party to be charged. A waiver of the elective share, homestead allowance, exempt property and family allowance, before or after marriage, must be a written contract or waiver signed by the waiving party after fair disclosure. No statute requires notarization, witnesses, a waiting period or independent counsel.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 1-23-105(a)(iii), 2-5-102

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Tables set a total obligation from both parents’ combined net income, and the parents share it in proportion to net income. Support ends at 18, but continues until 20 while the child attends high school or an equivalent program full time, and for a disabled child who cannot self-support. Courts have enforced college support that parents agreed to.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 20-2-303, 20-2-304, 20-2-313, 14-1-101(a), 14-2-204(a); Kidd v. Kidd, 832 P.2d 566 (Wyo. 1992); Witowski v. Roosevelt, 2009 WY 5, 199 P.3d 1072

Moving away with a child. No Wyoming statute addresses relocation or sets a notice period, though a decree may require notice. Since 2012 a custodial parent’s move gets no presumption in its favor. A relocation may be a material change in circumstances, and the judge then asks whether changing custody serves the children’s best interests. The parent seeking the change bears the burden.
Arnott v. Arnott, 2012 WY 167, 293 P.3d 440; Cornell v. Mecartney, 2025 WY 97; Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-204(c)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: 60 days. One spouse must have lived in Wyoming for the 60 days right before filing. The exception is a marriage performed in Wyoming where one spouse has lived there continuously since the wedding, which has no minimum period. The rule does not turn on where the grounds arose.
Wyo. Stat. § 20-2-107

How long it takes. One spouse can file on the ground of irreconcilable differences in the marital relationship, and no separation period applies. A decree cannot be entered until at least 20 days after the complaint is filed. The statute does not require the other spouse’s consent.
Wyo. Stat. §§ 20-2-104, 20-2-108

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 80 days from arrival to a final decree (60 days of residence + 20-day wait from filing). Courts often take longer.

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Wyoming and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Wyoming lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Wyoming” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.