Power of Attorney and Estate Planning After Divorce in Wyoming

Your divorce decree ends your marriage, but it doesn't automatically rebuild your estate plan. If your ex-spouse was your power of attorney, healthcare agent, executor, or trustee, some of those appointments are revoked by Wyoming law — but not all of them, and not in the way most people assume.

Here's what Wyoming's revocation-on-divorce statute actually does, where the gaps are, and what you need to update yourself.

What Wyo. Stat. § 2-6-125 Revokes Automatically

Wyoming's revocation-on-divorce statute is broad. Once your divorce is final, it automatically revokes:

• Any revocable disposition of property to your ex-spouse in a will, revocable trust, or payable-on-death account
• Any fiduciary appointment of your ex-spouse — this includes executor, trustee, conservator, guardian, healthcare agent, and power of attorney
• Any such provisions benefiting your ex-spouse's relatives who aren't related to you by blood or adoption
• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship between you and your ex is severed into a tenancy in common

The statute treats your ex-spouse as if they had died immediately before the divorce. So if your will said "everything to my spouse, and if my spouse predeceases me, to my children," the contingent beneficiary (your children) takes over automatically.

What the Statute Does NOT Cover

The automatic revocation has critical limits:

ERISA-governed accounts are federally preempted. Your employer-sponsored 401(k), pension, and group life insurance are governed by federal ERISA law. The U.S. Supreme Court has confirmed that plan administrators must pay benefits to whoever is named on the plan's beneficiary form — regardless of state revocation statutes. If your ex-spouse is still listed as the beneficiary on your employer's 401(k) or group life policy, they will receive the full payout when you die, even after divorce.

Third-party payors are protected until notified. Wyoming law immunizes insurance companies, banks, and other payors who distribute assets to your ex-spouse in good faith before receiving written notice of the divorce. If your life insurer pays out to your ex because they didn't know about the divorce, the insurer isn't liable — and you (or your estate) would have to pursue your ex directly to recover the funds.

Irrevocable trusts are unaffected. The statute only revokes "revocable" dispositions. If you created an irrevocable trust naming your ex-spouse as a beneficiary, the divorce doesn't change that. You'd need separate legal action to modify the trust, if modification is even possible under its terms.

What You Need to Do

New Power of Attorney

If your ex-spouse held your financial power of attorney, that appointment is revoked by statute. But that just means nobody holds it now. If you become incapacitated without a valid POA in place, your family would need to go through the courts to appoint a conservator — an expensive, time-consuming process.

Draft a new Durable Financial Power of Attorney naming someone you trust. Wyoming doesn't have a statutory POA form, so use a properly drafted document that complies with the Wyoming Uniform Power of Attorney Act.

New Healthcare Directive

Same logic applies. If your ex was your healthcare agent under an Advance Healthcare Directive, that appointment is revoked. Designate a new agent who can make medical decisions if you're unable to.

New Will

While the statute treats your ex as having predeceased you, relying on that default is risky. Your will may have provisions — specific bequests, guardianship nominations for minor children, executor appointments — that no longer reflect your wishes. Draft a new will that explicitly names the beneficiaries, guardians, and personal representative you actually want.

Update Beneficiary Designations Manually

This is the most urgent step. File new beneficiary designation forms with:

• Your employer's HR department (401(k) and group life insurance — ERISA-governed, not covered by state statute)
• Your IRA custodian (state law covers this, but manual updates prevent payment delays)
• Any individual life insurance policies
• Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts at banks and brokerages

Don't assume the statute will protect you. Manual updates are faster, cleaner, and avoid the risk of your estate having to litigate against your ex or a third-party payor.

Revoke or Update Trusts

If you created a revocable living trust naming your ex as a beneficiary or trustee, amend the trust to reflect your current wishes. The statute should revoke your ex's interest automatically, but an explicit amendment removes any ambiguity and makes it easier for successor trustees to administer the trust without questions.

The Wyoming After-Divorce Checklist includes a full estate planning update sequence — every beneficiary form, every agency contact, and the exact order for making changes so nothing falls through the cracks.

See more Wyoming guides →