Wyoming: Adult Guardianship and Conservatorship Petition Requirements

Requirements one by one

Proceeding and state terminology

Wyoming separates the roles. A guardian receives court-granted authority
over personal care; a conservator has custody and control of property. The
statutory phrases “guardian of the estate” and “guardian of the property” mean
conservator.

The cases can be joined. Section 3-1-105 permits one petition for both roles,
directs that the combined cause be tried under the conservator procedure in
§§ 3-3-101 through 3-3-104, and allows the same person to serve in both
capacities.

Who may file and where

Any person may file either an involuntary guardian or conservator petition.
The case is filed with the clerk of district court.

Venue differs by role. Guardianship may be filed where the adult resides or is
present; if a court ordered institutional admission, the county where that
court sits is another option. Conservatorship belongs in the adult's county of
residence or, for a nonresident, any Wyoming county where the adult has
property.

What the petition must contain

Both petitions identify the adult by name, age, and address; state whether the
adult is alleged to be an “incompetent person” or “mentally incompetent person”
and why; identify the proposed appointee and qualifications; identify the
custodian or facility; establish residence or other venue facts; explain why a
Wyoming appointment serves the adult's best interests; and state the
petitioner's interest.

The guardian petition specifically alleges that the nominee is a fit and proper
person. The conservator petition adds the estimated current value of real and
personal property, estimated gross annual income, and all money payable or to
become payable to the adult. These statutes do not require a petition-stage
alternatives checklist, disclosure of existing decision supports, or a medical
certificate.

Proof required for appointment

The same burden governs both roles. Sections 3-2-104 and 3-3-104 require a
preponderance of evidence proving the alleged statutory status and necessity
for the appointment.

For the ordinary adult track, § 3-1-101(a)(ix) requires functional inability:
the adult must be unable, without assistance, to manage and care for self or
property because of an enumerated medical condition—advanced age, physical
disability, disease, alcohol or controlled-substance use, mental illness,
mental deficiency, or intellectual disability. A condition label alone does
not prove the required inability and necessity.

Alternatives the court must address

Wyoming protects the outcome more directly than the petition. Section
3-1-205(a)(v) gives the adult a right to the least restrictive and most
appropriate guardianship or conservatorship suitable to the circumstances.
The order must state whether duties are limited or plenary and whether the
appointment is for a specified term or permanent.

The initial petition statutes do not require the filer to identify alternatives
considered or tried, and the appointment statutes do not state an express
finding that every named alternative is inadequate. The least-restrictive right
and limited-order requirement should not be rewritten as a petition checklist
that Wyoming did not enact.

Notice, service, and hearing timing

For either role, the adult, custodian, proposed guardian or conservator,
parents, known power-of-attorney agent or fiduciary, spouse, and adult children
known or discoverable with due diligence receive notice; the court may add
others. The adult also has an independent statutory right to notice and a
hearing.

Sections 3-2-102 and 3-3-102 send service to the Wyoming Rules of Civil
Procedure. Rule 4 requires the summons and initiating pleading together and
allows personal delivery, abode service on a resident over 14, service at the
usual business on the employee in charge, or service on an authorized agent.
Publication is expressly available for establishing a guardianship or
conservatorship when its requirements are met.

Rule 12 generally gives 20 days to answer after in-state service, 30 days after
out-of-state service, or 30 days after the last publication. Title 3 does not
set a separate fixed minimum hearing lead or ordinary filing-to-hearing
deadline.

Counsel and hearing rights

Section 3-1-205 gives the adult the right to attend the hearing and to a
guardian ad litem under Civil Rule 17(c). Rule 17 requires a GAL or another
protective order when an allegedly incompetent person lacks a representative.
Counsel is different: the statute provides appointed counsel only upon court
order, not automatically in every ordinary case.

The petitioner, adult, or custodian may demand a jury under §§ 3-2-103 and
3-3-103. The Civil Procedure and Evidence Rules govern the proceeding. Title
3 itself does not add a special closed-hearing option or a separate
cross-examination clause.

Medical evidence or court evaluator

Wyoming's ordinary appointment statutes do not mandate a clinical certificate,
court examiner, visitor, or investigator. The petition must prove functional
status and necessity, but §§ 3-2-101 through 3-2-104 and §§ 3-3-101 through
3-3-104 do not prescribe a universal evaluation architecture.

Because ordinary civil rules govern, Rule 35 remains available. A physical or
mental examination requires a motion, good cause, and notice, and the condition
must be in controversy. The examiner must be suitably licensed or certified,
and the court order must define the examination's time, place, manner,
conditions, scope, and examiner. That discretionary discovery route is not a
petition attachment or automatic court investigation.

Limits on the order

The appointment order must state why the adult needs the guardian or
conservator, name the appointee, set a specified-term or permanent duration,
and identify limited or plenary duties. Those required findings operate with
the adult's express least-restrictive entitlement.

Appointment does not adjudicate that the adult lacks testamentary capacity.
In a conservatorship, legal title remains with the adult even though the
conservator possesses the property and the court controls its administration
and disposition. A guardian must facilitate the least restrictive and most
appropriate available residence and request modification if changed
circumstances require a different range of duties.

Emergency guardianship is a separate § 3-2-106 route. It requires likely
substantial harm if ordinary procedures are followed and no other willing,
authorized person. The court immediately appoints a GAL. If appointment occurs
without notice, the adult and GAL receive notice within 48 hours and the court
holds a hearing within 72 hours; the emergency appointment itself is not a
determination of incapacity.

What trips people up

A combined case does not erase the two roles. Guardian authority concerns
the person and conservator authority concerns property, even when one petition
and one appointee cover both.

Counsel and the guardian ad litem are not the same rule. The adult has the
statutory GAL protection tied to Rule 17(c), while appointment of counsel in the
ordinary case depends on a court order.

Medical proof is not a mandatory form in every case. Functional status and
necessity still must be proved, but Wyoming uses ordinary evidence and civil
discovery rather than a universal physician certificate or visitor report.

Common questions

Can the adult request a jury? Yes. Both the guardianship and
conservatorship statutes allow the proposed ward, as well as the petitioner or
custodian, to demand a jury under the civil rules.

Must the petition list less restrictive alternatives? No statutory
checklist appears in §§ 3-2-101 or 3-3-101. But the adult still has an express
right to the least restrictive and most appropriate appointment, and the order
must define limited or plenary duties.

Statutes and sources

• Wyo. Stat. § 3-1-101(a)(iii), (v), (vii)-(ix), (xviii) — terminology and
  functional adult definition.
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title03.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Wyo. Stat. § 3-1-103, § 3-1-105, and § 3-1-205(a) — venue, combined petition,
  hearing rights, GAL/counsel, and least-restrictive entitlement.
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title03.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Wyo. Stat. § 3-2-101(a), §§ 3-2-102(a)-(d), § 3-2-103, and § 3-2-104 —
  guardian petition, notice, jury, proof, and order.
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title03.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Wyo. Stat. § 3-3-101(a), §§ 3-3-102(a)-(c), § 3-3-103, and § 3-3-104 —
  conservator petition, notice, jury, proof, and order.
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title03.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-2-104, 3-3-104 — parallel preponderance burdens and required
  appointment-order findings.
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title03.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)
• Wyo. Stat. §§ 3-1-201, 3-1-203 and § 3-2-106(d)-(f) — retained testamentary
  capacity/property title and emergency boundary.
  https://wyoleg.gov/statutes/compress/title03.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)
• W.R.C.P. 4(d)-(e), 12(a), 17(c), and 35(a) — service, response time, GAL,
  and discretionary examination.
  https://www.wyocourts.gov/app/uploads/2025/01/WY_Civ_Proc_Rules_Feb26.pdf (accessed 2026-07-19)

Build a starting document

Ezel's adult guardianship petition template
can help organize functional facts, requested personal and property powers,
notice recipients, existing supports, and proposed appointee information. It
is generic and not a Wyoming district-court form; it does not replace local
pleading, summons, service, GAL, or jury-demand procedure.

Disclaimer

This page is general legal information about an adult guardianship or
conservatorship petition, not legal advice about whether an adult lacks capacity
or whether a court should remove or restrict that adult's rights. These
proceedings affect fundamental personal and property rights. A medical diagnosis
alone does not necessarily satisfy the legal standard, filing a petition does
not guarantee appointment, and emergency, developmental-disability,
mental-health, and interstate cases may follow different rules. Courts often
require official forms and local procedures in addition to the statutes
summarized here. Verified against the official statute text on the date shown;
confirm current law and court forms and consult a licensed attorney before
filing or responding to a petition.