Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Wyoming

Financial power of attorney in Wyoming

Law and official form

Law

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Yes (effective January 1, 2018)

Official form

State of Wyoming Statutory Form Power of Attorney (Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-301), with Agent's Certification (§ 3-9-302)Published by Wyoming Judicial Branch (Legal Help by Topic: Power of Attorney)

You do not have to use it.

Covers property only, not health care. Includes a notary block. The court page says the statutory form 'meets the requirements for granting a power of attorney in Wyoming'.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-101 et seq. (2017 Wyo. Sess. Laws ch. 117, SF 105, § 4); Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-9-301, 3-9-302

Signing rules

How to sign

The Act requires only your signature. If you acknowledge your signature before a notary, it is presumed genuine, and banks and others must follow the acceptance rules for an 'acknowledged' power of attorney. The statutory form includes a notary block.

Who signs

Signed by you, or in your conscious presence by another person you direct to sign your name.

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

None required

Agent's acknowledgment

No agent signature is required. A person accepts appointment by acting as agent or by other conduct showing acceptance, unless the document says otherwise.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-113

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-9-105, 3-9-119, 3-9-120

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney created on or after the Act's effective date is durable unless it expressly says it ends when you become incapacitated; an older one is durable only if it was durable under the law when signed.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-104

Durable unless it says otherwise?

Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.

Starting later (springing)

It is effective when signed unless it says it starts on a future date or event. You can name who decides that the event happened. If it starts on your incapacity and no one you named can decide, it starts when a physician or licensed psychologist, or an attorney, judge or appropriate government official, determines in writing that you are incapacitated.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-109

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Create, amend, revoke or end a living (inter vivos) trust
• Make a gift
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Delegate authority granted under the power of attorney
• Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a retirement plan survivor benefit
• Exercise fiduciary powers you have authority to delegate
• Disclaim property, including a power of appointment

No power of attorney can

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an agent who is not your ancestor, spouse or descendant may not use it to give themselves, or someone they must support, an interest in your property. The Act does not apply to a power to make health care decisions.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-201(b); § 3-9-103(a)(ii)

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-201(a)

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act according to your reasonable expectations, if known, and otherwise in your best interest
• Act in good faith and only within the authority granted
• Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
• Use the care, competence and diligence ordinarily used by agents
• Keep a record of all receipts, payments and transactions
• Cooperate with your health care decision-maker
• Try to preserve your estate plan, if known and in your best interest

Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, an agent is entitled to reimbursement of reasonable expenses and to reasonable compensation.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-112

Asking a court to review an agent

You, the agent, a guardian or conservator, your health care decision-maker, your family and presumptive heirs, beneficiaries, a protective agency, your caregiver, a person asked to accept the power of attorney and others listed in the Act can petition a court to construe it or review the agent's conduct.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-116

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-114

When it ends and how to revoke it

It ends when

• You die
• You become incapacitated, if the power of attorney is not durable
• You revoke it
• It says it ends, or its purpose is accomplished
• The agent dies, becomes incapacitated or resigns, or you revoke the agent's authority, and no other agent is named
• An action is filed for dissolution, annulment or legal separation from an agent who is your spouse

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Wyoming (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke a power of attorney or an agent's authority. The Act does not set a required method; the Wyoming Judicial Branch self-help page says to revoke it in writing. Signing a new power of attorney does not revoke an earlier one unless the new one says so.

Telling others

Tell the agent and every bank or business that has a copy. An agent or other person who acts in good faith without actual knowledge that the power of attorney or the agent's authority has ended is protected.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-110

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

A person asked to accept a notarized (acknowledged) power of attorney must accept it, or within 7 business days ask for an agent's certification or an English translation, and then accept it within 5 business days after receiving it, unless a legal reason to refuse applies (for example, a good-faith belief it is invalid, or a report to a protective agency of suspected abuse or exploitation). A person may not demand a different form. Wrongful refusal can lead to a court order and liability for reasonable attorney's fees and costs. A photocopy or electronically sent copy has the same effect as the original.

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-9-119, 3-9-120; § 3-9-106(d)

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed outside Wyoming is valid in Wyoming if, when signed, it complied with the law of the jurisdiction that governs its meaning (the one named in it, or where it was signed), Wyo. Stat. § 19-11-202, or the federal military power of attorney rules.

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-9-106(c), 3-9-107

Health care directive in Wyoming

The document and its form

Document

Power of attorney for health care / advance health care directive (Wyoming Health Care Decisions Act)

Living will

Individual instruction

Part of the directive.

An individual instruction is your own direction about health care. It may be oral or written, and may be limited to take effect only if a specified condition arises.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-405 (form section) repealed by Laws 2007, ch. 61, § 2; Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-403(a)

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign your power of attorney for health care and either have it notarized or have two qualified witnesses sign the required declaration. Individual instructions may be oral or written.

Who signs

In writing and signed by you, or by another person in your presence and at your express direction.

Notary

A notary or witnesses (your choice)

Witnesses

2 (instead of a notary)

Who cannot witness

Either acknowledge it before a notarial officer, or have at least two witnesses sign; each witness must have seen you sign or acknowledge it and must declare under penalty of perjury that you are known to them and signed or acknowledged it in their presence. None of these may witness: your treating health care provider or the provider's employee; the attorney-in-fact you name; the operator or an employee of a community care facility or a residential care facility (or of its operator).

Nursing facilities and special settings

Operators and employees of community care and residential care facilities may not be witnesses, and, unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, an owner, operator or employee of a residential or community care facility where you receive care may not be your agent.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-403(a)-(c)

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

Unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, your agent may not be an owner, operator or employee of a residential or community care facility where you are receiving care.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-403(b)

When the agent starts

Unless your document says otherwise, the agent's authority starts only when it is determined that you lack capacity and stops when you recover capacity. Your primary physician makes that determination (or your treating primary health care provider if the physician is unavailable), unless your directive says otherwise.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-403(d), (e)

Decisions an agent cannot make

The agent must follow your directive and other known wishes; otherwise the agent decides in your best interest, considering your personal values. The agent's decisions need no court approval, and absent a court order an agent's decision takes precedence over a guardian's.

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-22-403(f), (g), 35-22-407(b)

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You may revoke the naming of an agent only by a signed writing.

Revoking your instructions

You may revoke all or part of the rest of the directive at any time and in any manner that shows your intent; an oral revocation should be documented as soon as possible in a writing signed and dated by you or a witness to it.

Telling others

A health care provider, agent, guardian or surrogate who is told of a revocation must promptly tell your primary health care provider and any facility where you are receiving care.

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Wyoming (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

A later advance health care directive revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-404(e)

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-404

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

If there is no valid directive and no available agent or guardian, a surrogate may decide once your primary physician or primary health care provider determines you lack capacity. The law lists family members in a suggested descending order of priority. If members of a class disagree, the provider follows the majority of those who have spoken. The provider may ask the surrogate for a written declaration under penalty of perjury supporting their authority. You can disqualify anyone in writing or by telling your provider.

1. A person you named as surrogate by telling your primary health care provider
2. Spouse (unless legally separated)
3. Adult child
4. Parent
5. Grandparent
6. Adult brother or sister
7. Adult grandchild
8. An adult who has shown special care and concern and knows your values

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-406

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

An advance health care directive is valid if it complied with the applicable law at the time it was signed or communicated.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-403(j)

POLST (medical orders)

Wyoming POLST form (Department of Health)

Mental health directive

A psychiatric advance directive may be made by an adult with decisional capacity (or an authorized decision-maker) on recommended Department of Health forms; it is valid for up to 2 years unless reaffirmed, and may be revoked at any time unless the person is mentally incompetent. The Wyoming Judicial Branch posts a psychiatric advance directive form.

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-22-302, 35-22-303, 35-22-307, 35-22-308

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 35-22-501 to 35-22-509

Guardianship and conservatorship in Wyoming

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian and conservator of an incompetent person (plenary or limited); temporary or emergency guardian; standby guardian

When a court may appoint one

An 'incompetent person' is unable, unassisted, to properly manage and take care of themselves or their property because of advanced age, physical disability, disease, alcohol or drug use, mental illness, mental deficiency or intellectual disability. The court may appoint a guardian if the status of the proposed ward and the need for a guardian are proved by a preponderance of the evidence; the order states the reasons, the term and whether the duties are limited or plenary. The petitioner, proposed ward or custodian may demand a jury trial.

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-1-101, 3-2-103, 3-2-104

Kinds

• Plenary guardian
• Limited guardian
• Temporary or emergency guardian
• Standby guardian
• Conservator (plenary or limited)

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-1-101 to 3-3-1101

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

Any person may file a petition; the proposed ward may file a voluntary petition.

Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-2-101, 3-2-105

Court

District court of the county where the proposed ward lives or is present.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-1-103

Choosing your own

A person you nominated while able to make a reasonably intelligent choice has first priority for appointment as guardian. In a power of attorney you may nominate a conservator or guardian; the court follows your most recent nomination except for good cause or disqualification.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-2-107(c)(i); Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-108(a)

Effect on a power of attorney

If a court appoints a conservator or other fiduciary for some or all of your property, the agent is accountable to the fiduciary as well as to you; the power of attorney continues unless the court limits, suspends or ends it. Notice of an involuntary guardianship petition must be served on any agent under a known power of attorney.

Law: Wyo. Stat. § 3-9-108(b); Wyo. Stat. § 3-2-102(b)

Cost, fee waiver and forms

Filing fee

Set by the local district court clerk

Source: Wyoming Judicial Branch instructions

Fee waiver

Affidavit of Indigency and Request for Waiver of Filing Fees and all Fees Associated Therewith

Forms

• Instructions for Appointment of a Guardian (Adult), updated 07-13-2023
• Petition for Guardian of Adult
• Consent or Nomination of Guardian
• Order Appointing Guardian for an Adult
• Guardian's Report

Steps

Steps

Other options and where to report abuse

Less restrictive options

• Durable power of attorney and power of attorney for health care: Agents you name can act without a court case; an agent's health care decisions take precedence over a guardian's absent a court order.
• Limited guardianship: The court order states whether the guardian's duties are limited or plenary and for how long.
• Social Security representative payee: The Wyoming courts' adult guardianship page points to Social Security's Representative Payment Program for people who only need help managing benefits.

Report abuse or exploitation

Wyoming Department of Family Services (reports go to your local DFS office) · 1-800-457-3659

Call or text the Eldercare Locator to find your local adult protective services: 1-800-677-1116 · eldercare.acl.gov

Good to know in Wyoming

• A Wyoming health care power of attorney must be notarized or signed by two witnesses who each sign a declaration under penalty of perjury.

  Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-403(b)

• You can revoke the naming of a health care agent only by a signed writing.

  Law: Wyo. Stat. § 35-22-404(a)

• Wyoming guardianship is decided by a preponderance of the evidence, and the petitioner, proposed ward or custodian may demand a jury.

  Law: Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-2-103, 3-2-104

• Guardians must file reports on the ward every six months.

  Source: Wyoming Judicial Branch adult guardianship page

Questions about powers of attorney in Wyoming