2010 Wyoming Statutes
Title 34 - Property, Conveyances And Security Transactions
Chapter 5 - Conveyances Validated

CHAPTER 5 - CONVEYANCES VALIDATED

 

34-5-101. When executed out of state; exceptions.

 

All deeds and conveyances of real estate given and recorded in the state of Wyoming prior to January 1, 1925, the execution of which shall have been acknowledged before a notary public out of this state, where the certificate of official character attached to such deeds or other conveyance fails to state that such deed or conveyance was executed and acknowledged according to the laws of the state or territory in which the same was executed, shall be deemed as valid and binding as if such certificate had contained the statement aforesaid, and shall be so construed by the courts, and the record thereof shall have the same force and effect as if such certificate had contained said statement; provided, that such record shall in no wise affect the right or title of any person acquired in good faith and for a valuable consideration before the said January 1, 1925; and provided, further, that this section shall not be construed to affect any judgment or decree rendered by any court of the state before that time.

 

34-5-102. Instruments not witnessed; exceptions.

 

All deeds, mortgages or other instruments executed five (5) years prior to January 1, 1935, not witnessed, and admitted to record, which, under the laws of the state of Wyoming should have been executed in the presence of one (1) witness, shall be deemed as valid and binding as if the same had been executed in the presence of a witness, and shall be so construed by the courts of this state, and the records thereof shall have the same force and effect as if such deeds, mortgages, and other instruments had been executed in the presence of a witness; provided, that such record shall in no wise affect the right or title of any person acquired in good faith and for a valuable consideration five (5) years before the said 1st day of January, 1935; and provided, further, that this section shall not be construed to affect any judgment or decree rendered by any court of the state of Wyoming before that time.

 

34-5-103. Certificate of acknowledgment; failure to state acknowledgment was according to law; liability of county clerk.

 

All deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney and other instruments executed and acknowledged in any other state, territory or district of the United States five (5) years prior to January 1, 1935, affecting property or property rights in this state, but where the person taking the acknowledgment has omitted to state in his certificate of acknowledgment that such deed, mortgage, power of attorney or other instrument was executed and acknowledged according to the law of such state, territory or district, and when the laws of this state in relation to such certificate have in all other respects been complied with, shall be deemed valid and shall be so construed by the courts of this state, and such instruments shall be entitled to record and the record thereof shall have the same force and effect as if such deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney or other instruments had been acknowledged in the manner provided by the laws of this state, and in case any county clerk shall have received for record such defective instruments, he shall not be liable in an action for damages for having received for record and recorded any such deed, mortgage, power of attorney or other instrument.

 

34-5-104. Certificate of acknowledgment; incomplete.

 

Any conveyance of real estate made ten (10) years or more prior to January 1st, A.D. 1935, purporting to be acknowledged before any justice of the peace, within or without the state of Wyoming, where such justice of the peace did not state in his certificate of acknowledgment the date of expiration of his office, or where no certificate, or a defective certificate is attached to such deed by the county clerk or clerk of court of the county of such justice of the peace as is required by law in case such acknowledgment is taken before a justice of the peace outside of the state of Wyoming; and any conveyance of real estate made ten (10) years or more prior to January 1st, A.D. 1935, purporting to be acknowledged before any notary public, where such notary public did not attach his seal to such certificate of acknowledgment, or did not state therein the expiration of the time of his commission; and any conveyance of real estate made ten (10) years or more prior to the 1st day of January, A.D. 1935, where such conveyance does not purport to be properly witnessed; and any conveyance of real estate made ten (10) years or more, prior to the first day of January, A.D. 1935, purporting to be executed by any corporation, where there is any defect or irregularity in the execution or acknowledgment thereof, shall, if the same has been heretofore recorded ten (10) years or more prior to January 1st, 1935, in the office of the county clerk of the county where the real estate therein conveyed is situate, be deemed as valid and as effective and binding as though the defects and irregularities therein, herein mentioned, did not exist and as though in these respects the same had been executed in full accordance with the laws of this state, and the record, or the certified copy thereof, shall be admitted in evidence in all actions or proceedings with the same force and effect as though the defects and irregularities therein, herein mentioned, did not exist, and as though in these respects the same had been executed in full accordance with the laws of this state.

 

34-5-105. Defects in mortgage releases and assignments; time limits for civil action.

 

Any and all mortgage releases and assignments of mortgages which have been heretofore recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county wherein the real estate therein is affected is situate, and have been of record five (5) years or more prior to January 1, 1935, purporting to cancel and discharge or assign any mortgage, and purporting to be executed by any mortgagee his agent or attorney, or by any assignee of said mortgage, or purporting to be executed by any person acting for a corporation which is either mortgagee or assignee of said mortgage, shall be deemed to be valid, and the lien of such mortgage, shall be deemed to be canceled in case of release, and the mortgage deemed duly assigned, in case of assignment, notwithstanding any defects in the execution of such release or assignment. Provided, however, that the holder of any mortgage or the assignee thereof, which said mortgage is defectively released, or assigned as hereinbefore specified, and which has remained unchallenged, by the proper action in court, or other legal and proper proceeding, on the records aforesaid for the period of five (5) years or more as aforesaid, shall have until the first day of January, 1936, in which to commence an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in this state, for the assertion and enforcement of his rights, or to set aside such release or assignment, and if not so commenced as herein mentioned, then such release or assignment shall be deemed valid against such persons and all rights as against the same shall be barred.

 

34-5-106. When executed by executor; generally.

 

In all cases where a conveyance of real estate situate in this state has been made by an executor, administrator or administrator de bonis non, of any deceased person, whether appointed and acting in this or any other state, and the fact of the sale or the conveyance of such real estate has been reported to the court in which such executor, administrator or administrator de bonis non was appointed and acting, and the proceeds of such sale or conveyance, or any part thereof have been distributed, it shall be prima facie evidence that the person or persons so receiving said proceeds or any part thereof, either directly or through any agent or assignee, consented to such sale and conveyance, and intended thereby and did thereby, vest in the purchaser under such sale, and the grantee in such conveyance all the right, title and interest which said person or persons, so receiving said proceeds or any part thereof, had in and to the premises so sold and conveyed at the time of such receipt, and did by so receiving such proceeds or any part thereof, intend to be estopped from claiming any further right, title or interest in and to such real estate.

 

34-5-107. When executed by executor; deceased entryman.

 

Any conveyance of land situate within this state, for which no final proof had been made by a deceased entryman or for which no patent had been issued to such deceased entryman under the land laws of the United States during the life of such entryman, which said conveyance has heretofore been made by an executor, administrator or administrator de bonis non of such deceased, appointed and acting by the authority of an order of court of this or any other state, and any conveyance of any land situate in this state heretofore made by any such executor, administrator or administrator de bonis non of a deceased person, whether made under the provisions of any will, foreign or domestic, or any order of court, foreign or domestic, shall be valid and binding, inter alia, upon any heir or devisee and upon any successor in interest of such heir or devisee by whatever manner, in the following cases: First, when such conveyance has with knowledge or means of knowledge of such conveyance, been treated as valid by any such heir or devisee, and the successor in interest thereof, or by such successor in interest, for the period of five (5) years after such conveyance has been ordered or approved by any such court or judge thereof; secondly, when such conveyance has not been sought to be set aside in any court of competent jurisdiction within five (5) years from and after the filing of such conveyance in the office of the county clerk of the county wherein such land is situate.

 

34-5-108. Foreign administrator.

 

Any conveyance of real estate heretofore, ten (10) years or more prior to January 1st, A.D. 1935, recorded in the county where such real estate is situate, executed by any foreign administrator, executor or administrator de bonis non, appointed and acting under an order of any court of any state of competent jurisdiction over estates of decedents in such state, when such order was made by the court wherein such executor, administrator or administrator de bonis non was appointed or the judge thereof, and when such conveyance was made in conformity to the laws of the state in which such administrator or executor was appointed, and any conveyance heretofore, ten (10) years or more prior to January 1st, A.D. 1935, recorded in the county where such real estate is situate, executed by any such executor, administrator or administrator de bonis non, under the provisions of any will duly probated in any court of competent jurisdiction wherever situate, when such conveyance was made in conformity to the law of the state in which such administrator or executor or administrator de bonis non was appointed, shall be as valid and binding upon the heir and devisees of the decedent and their successors in interest, as though such conveyance were made in conformity with the laws of this state; provided, such conveyances herein mentioned were made in accordance with due process of law in such state.

 

34-5-109. Copies of proceedings in foreign courts.

 

Duly certified copies, according to law, of the proceedings in foreign courts, mentioned and referred to in W.S. 34-5-107, 34-5-108 and 34-5-110, when recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county where the land involved is situate, such records, or the certified copies thereof, shall be competent and prima facie evidence of the truth of the contents thereof, and the regularity of the proceedings therein set forth.

 

34-5-110. Adverse claims; when adverse claimant barred against purchaser.

 

Any claimant having acquired any vested right in and to the said real estate conveyed as aforesaid in the two (2) preceding sections, adverse to the purchaser under the conveyances executed as aforesaid in the two (2) preceding sections, which said adverse claim was acquired five (5) years prior to January 1, 1935, shall have until the first day of January, 1936, in which to commence an action in a court of competent jurisdiction within this state, to assert and enforce such adverse right, and such vested right shall during the period herein allowed for the commencement of such action, not be affected by the provisions of the two (2) preceding sections, but from and after the time so allowed for the commencement of such action, unless such action has been brought as herein mentioned, all rights of such adverse claimant in and to such real estate shall be forever barred.

 

34-5-111. Adverse claims; action by heir against purchaser.

 

In any action contemplated in the preceding section, commenced and brought by an heir or devisee of such deceased person in this action contemplated, or the successor in interest of such heir or devisee, if it shall appear that such heir or devisee had knowledge, either by personal notice, or constructively under the laws of the state where the estate of such deceased person was administered, of the fact of the sale or the conveyance of such real estate mentioned in the two (2) preceding sections, or where such person appeared in the proceedings in court relating thereto, it shall be prima facie evidence against such devisee and heir, and against any successor in interest of such heir or devisee without adequate consideration, that such heir and devisee consented to such sale and conveyance, and intended thereby, and did thereby, vest in the purchaser under such conveyance, or sale, all the right, title and interest which such devisee and heir had in and to such real estate so sold or conveyed at the time of such sale or conveyance, and meant to be estopped thereby to claim any future title or interest therein, and if such action is brought by the successor in interest of such heir or devisee, it shall be presumed in the first instance, that such successor in interest is such without adequate consideration, and provided further, that in all such actions, all such conveyances shall be prima facie of the effect as vesting the complete and clear title of the property conveyed in such conveyance in the grantee therein.

 

34-5-112. Effect of preceding sections on pending litigation; enforcement of rights of minor heir in conveyed property.

 

The provisions of W.S. 34-5-104 through 34-5-108, 34-5-110, 34-5-111, inclusive, shall not affect any pending litigation. And any right which any minor heir may have in and to any property conveyed, transferred or released as in said sections mentioned, may be asserted by bringing an action in any court of competent jurisdiction within one (1) year after such minor heir becomes an adult.

 

34-5-113. Where release of homestead or marital status of grantor not indicated.

 

All conveyances by which any estate or interest in real estate is created, alienated, mortgaged or assigned, or by which the title to any real estate may be affected in law or in equity wherein there is no release or waiver of homestead or the marital status of the grantor is not set forth, and which have been or hereafter may be recorded for a period of ten (10) years in the office of the county clerk of the county wherein such real estate is situated, it shall be conclusively presumed that said real estate was not used, occupied or claimed by the grantor, or the spouse of the grantor as a homestead at the time of said conveyance.

 

34-5-114. Gifts to religious and educational uses; generally.

 

No gift, devise, bequest, transfer, grant or conveyance of real or personal property to religious, educational, charitable or benevolent uses, which shall in other respects be valid under the laws of this state shall be deemed invalid by reason of the indefiniteness or uncertainty of the persons designated as the beneficiaries thereunder in the instrument creating or constituting the same.

 

34-5-115. Gifts to religious and educational uses; existence of prior trust agreements in will.

 

No such gift, bequest or devise contained in any will executed in accordance with the requirements of law shall be deemed invalid by reason of the incorporation by reference in the will of any written or printed resolution, declaration or trust agreement, identified as existing prior to the execution of such will, and adopted or made by any corporation or corporations authorized by law to accept and execute trusts, creating a trust to assist, encourage and promote the well being or well doing of mankind, or of the inhabitants of any community, provided that a copy of such resolution, declaration or deed of trust, certified by the secretary or assistant secretary, or other officer or officers, of such corporation or corporations under its or their corporate seal or seals, shall have been filed for record in the office of the secretary of state of the state of Wyoming, the secretary of state being hereby authorized and directed to receive and record such resolution, declaration or deed of trust, upon payment of the fees provided by law.

 

34-5-116. Gifts to religious and educational uses; valid notwithstanding terms are included only by reference.

 

 

(a) Any gift, devise or bequest so made to any such corporation in trust for the uses and purposes contained in such resolution, declaration, or deed of trust, shall be valid and effectual, notwithstanding:

 

(i) That the terms, conditions, uses and purposes of such gift, devise or bequest, are included only by such reference in the will; and, or

 

(ii) That such resolution, declaration, or deed of trust, has been or may be, amended in accordance with the provisions thereof.

 

34-5-117. Gifts to religious and educational uses; application of W.S. 34-5-114 through 34-5-117.

 

All the terms and provisions of this act shall be deemed applicable to all gifts, devises, bequests, transfers, grants or conveyances of real or personal property heretofore made, as well as to those hereafter made, and to all such resolutions, declarations, or deeds of trust as are hereinabove referred to which have been heretofore filed for record as hereinabove provided, as well as those which shall be hereafter so filed for record.