2020 Wyoming Statutes
Title 2 - Wills, Decedents' Estates and Probate Code
Chapter 6 - Wills
Article 2 - Procedure for Probate
Section 2-6-207 - Proof; Lost or Destroyed Will; Court May Restrain Personal Representatives Pending Disposition.
2-6-207. Proof; lost or destroyed will; court may restrain personal representatives pending disposition.
(a) Whenever any will is lost or destroyed, the district court shall take proof of the execution and validity thereof to establish the same. All the testimony shall be reduced to writing and signed by the witnesses.
(b) No will shall be proved as a lost or destroyed will unless it is proved to have been in existence at the time of death of the testator, or is shown to have been fraudulently destroyed in the lifetime of the testator, nor unless its provisions are clearly and distinctly proved by at least two (2) credible witnesses.
(c) When a lost will is established, the provisions thereof shall be distinctly stated and certified by the judge, under his hand and the seal of the court, and the certificate shall be filed and recorded as other wills are filed and recorded, and letters testamentary or of administration with the will annexed, shall be issued thereon in the same manner as upon wills produced and duly proved.
(d) If before or during the pendency of an application to prove a lost or destroyed will, letters of administration are granted on the estate of the testator or letters testamentary of any previous will of the testator are granted, the court may restrain the personal representatives so appointed from any acts or proceedings which would be injurious to the legatees or devisees claiming under the lost or destroyed will.
