Back to Wyoming
Hot Springs County, WY Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The District Court in Hot Springs County, sitting in the Fifth Judicial District. There is no separate probate court in Wyoming; the district court is the general trial court and handles probate. The judge is a district judge |
| Filing office | The Clerk of the District Court in Hot Springs County, the elected county officer whose office takes petitions and keeps the county's estate records. This is a different office from the county clerk, where a small-estate affidavit is filed |
| Courthouse | 415 Arapahoe Street, Third Floor, West Side, Thermopolis, WY 82443 |
| Mailing address | 415 Arapahoe Street, Thermopolis, WY 82443; the office uses its street address for mail, with no separate P.O. box |
| Phone | (307) 864-3323, the Hot Springs County Clerk of the District Court office. This is the county's own line, not a statewide call center |
| Fax | (307) 864-3210 |
| [email protected], the Clerk of the District Court office mailbox | |
| Office hours | The county's own Clerk of the District Court page does not publish office hours. Call (307) 864-3323 to confirm the counter hours and any filing cutoff before making a trip to Thermopolis (verified July 2026) |
| Filing fee | $160 to open probate: a $110 filing fee, a $40 court automation fee, and a $10 indigent civil legal services fee. This is set by statute and uniform in every Wyoming county (W.S. 5-3-206), plus a graduated inventory fee when an inventory or appraisement is filed for an estate of $5,000 or more (W.S. 2-2-401). The county's own fee schedule, effective July 1, 2023, lists probate at $160, matching the statewide figure, and court fees may be paid online through the county's secure CORE portal (verified July 2026) |
| Local forms | None. Wyoming's statewide self-help forms cover small estates, not full formal administration; there is no Hot Springs County local probate form set. Full probate filings are drafted to the district court's requirements, and self-represented filers usually work with the small-estate forms or with counsel |
| E-filing | Mandatory for Wyoming-licensed attorneys through the File and Serve system (effective October 1, 2024). Self-represented filers cannot e-file in district court and file on paper with the Clerk of the District Court, in person or by mail |
| Case search | There is no free remote public docket search for Wyoming district-court probate cases. To check a case, contact the Clerk of the District Court, or view records at the courthouse in Thermopolis or at the Wyoming State Law Library |
| Remote appearance | Some hearings may be held by videoconference. To request remote access to a specific hearing, email the Clerk of the District Court at least 24 hours in advance with the hearing date and time, the parties, and the case number; remote access is not guaranteed for every hearing (verified July 2026). Many uncontested estates are resolved on the papers without an in-person appearance |
| Website | https://hscounty.com/departments/clerk-of-court |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Hot Springs County, know exactly what is in the estate. Which Wyoming path fits depends on whether there is a will, on who inherits, and on the value and type of the assets, because a full administration, a summary distribution of a small estate, and a simple affidavit for personal property are different routes with different filings. Those paths and their thresholds are statewide and are explained on the Wyoming state page; identify the estate first so you, and if needed your attorney, file the right papers once.
Identify every bank and credit-union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life-insurance policy, vehicle, and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you file. In a ranching county like Hot Springs this matters in particular for land and mineral interests, because the route that can pass real property, including mineral interests, is the summary-distribution decree in the district court (W.S. 2-1-205), while the affidavit route filed with the county clerk (W.S. 2-1-201) reaches only personal property. How each asset is titled decides which route you need. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Clerk of the District Court in Thermopolis is the single probate filing office for all of Hot Springs County. It serves the entire county, including Thermopolis (the county seat), East Thermopolis, Kirby, Lucerne, Hamilton Dome, and Grass Creek, along with the surrounding ranch country. Estates from every one of these communities are filed with the Clerk of the District Court at 415 Arapahoe Street in Thermopolis. Hot Springs is a small county with a single courthouse, so most filers are within a reasonable drive of Thermopolis; because papers can be mailed, much of the filing can be done without repeated trips to the courthouse, and the distance matters mainly for any in-person hearing.
Venue for a decedent's estate is the county where the decedent resided at the time of death (W.S. 2-2-102). If the decedent lived in Hot Springs County, file with the District Court in Hot Springs County. If the decedent was not a Wyoming resident but left property in the county, venue can also lie here under the same statute. The Fifth Judicial District is an administrative grouping of judges covering Hot Springs, Big Horn, Park, and Washakie counties; probate is still filed in the decedent's county, in that county's district court, not in the district at large. The judge is a district judge, and the Clerk of the District Court maintains the county's estate records.
The jurisdiction process
- Gather the documents. Collect the original signed will (if there is one), a certified copy of the death certificate, the proposed personal representative's contact information and identification, the names and addresses of the heirs and devisees, and a list of the assets and debts with values. A person named in a will to settle the estate is an executor; a person appointed where there is no will is an administrator. Wyoming's umbrella term for either is personal representative.
- Choose the path. Full formal administration runs through the district court, which admits the will (if any) and issues letters testamentary or letters of administration. For a smaller estate there are two lighter routes: a summary distribution decree in the district court (W.S. 2-1-205), which can reach real property and mineral interests, and an affidavit for collection of personal property filed with the county clerk (W.S. 2-1-201), which reaches only personal property and opens no court case. Both small-estate routes apply when the estate does not exceed $400,000 (effective July 1, 2025) and at least 30 days have passed since death. These statewide paths and their details are on the Wyoming state page; identify the right one before you file.
- Prepare the forms. Wyoming's statewide self-help forms, published on the Judicial Branch self-help forms page, cover small estates, the affidavit, and summary distribution; there is no statewide do-it-yourself packet for a full formal administration, and there is no separate Hot Springs County form set. Confirm the current form by function on the self-help forms page before you file, and expect a full administration to require documents drafted to the district court's requirements.
- File with the Clerk of the District Court. A Wyoming-licensed attorney files electronically through the File and Serve system, mandatory since October 1, 2024. A self-represented filer files on paper with the Clerk of the District Court at 415 Arapahoe Street, Third Floor, in Thermopolis, or by mail to 415 Arapahoe Street, Thermopolis, WY 82443. Call (307) 864-3323 to confirm the counter hours and any filing cutoff before you make the trip.
- Pay the filing fee. The fee to open a probate is $160, made up of the $110 filing fee, the $40 court automation fee, and the $10 indigent civil legal services fee, and it is uniform in every Wyoming county (W.S. 5-3-206). When an inventory or appraisement is filed for an estate of $5,000 or more, a graduated inventory fee also applies (W.S. 2-2-401). The Hot Springs County clerk's office also accepts online payment of court fees through its secure CORE portal. The affidavit route opens no court case, so there is no court filing fee; for a summary-distribution application, confirm the current fee with the Clerk of the District Court.
- Give notice to creditors. In a full administration, once letters issue the personal representative publishes a notice to creditors once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. Creditors must file claims with the clerk within three months of the first publication or be barred (W.S. 2-7-201). The affidavit and summary-distribution routes do not use this creditor-claim process.
- Attend a hearing only if one is scheduled. Many uncontested Hot Springs County estates are resolved by the district court on the papers, without an in-person hearing. Where a matter is contested or a hearing is otherwise required, the Clerk of the District Court sets it; to ask for remote access to the hearing, email the office at least 24 hours in advance with the hearing date and time, the parties, and the case number. Remote access is not guaranteed for every hearing.
- Receive the letters. On appointment the court issues letters testamentary (where there is a will) or letters of administration (where there is not). A certified copy of the letters is what banks and transfer agents rely on, so request enough certified copies for the institutions involved.
- Administer and close. Inventory the assets, pay valid claims in the order set by law, account as the estate's path requires, distribute what remains, and close the estate. If the estate is settled by summary distribution and includes Hot Springs County land or mineral interests, a certified copy of the decree is recorded with the county clerk to establish title.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Hot Springs County
Wyoming does not publish a full do-it-yourself probate packet, and there is no separate Hot Springs County form set. The statewide self-help forms on the Wyoming Judicial Branch self-help forms page cover small estates: the affidavit for collection of personal property (W.S. 2-1-201) and the summary-distribution application and decree (W.S. 2-1-205). A full formal administration is not a fill-in-the-blank filing; its documents are drafted to the district court's requirements, which is one reason many families settling a full estate work with counsel. Confirm the current form by function on the self-help forms page before you file, because a form's name can change.
In Hot Springs County a Wyoming-licensed attorney files these documents electronically through the File and Serve system, and a self-represented filer files on paper with the Clerk of the District Court at 415 Arapahoe Street, Third Floor, in Thermopolis, or by mail to 415 Arapahoe Street, Thermopolis, WY 82443. For questions about what the office needs on intake, the Clerk of the District Court can be reached at (307) 864-3323.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Wyoming Judicial Branch self-help forms (wyocourts.gov/self-help-forms) | The statewide self-help forms for small estates, including the affidavit for collection of personal property (W.S. 2-1-201) and the summary-distribution forms (W.S. 2-1-205); there is no statewide packet for a full formal administration |
| Hot Springs County Clerk of the District Court (hscounty.com) | The county filing office page for the courthouse address, mailing address, phone, fax, email, the fee schedule, and the online payment and remote-hearing information |
Recent updates
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Hot Springs County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Thermopolis-area home was owned in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, it passes to the surviving spouse outside probate once the death is recorded, so no district-court case is needed for the house itself. If other assets stood in the decedent's sole name and there is a will, the spouse files in the District Court in Hot Springs County and, once the will is admitted, receives letters testamentary as executor; with no will, the spouse is appointed administrator and receives letters of administration. | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and accounts are titled and what must go through the court. Packet generation for the filing with the Clerk of the District Court. A vetted attorney referral if a dispute arises. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the estate does not exceed $400,000 (effective July 1, 2025) and at least 30 days have passed since death, a distributee can often avoid a full administration: personal property alone can be collected by affidavit filed with the county clerk (W.S. 2-1-201), while land or mineral interests are passed by a summary-distribution decree in the district court (W.S. 2-1-205). Papers can be mailed to the Clerk of the District Court in Thermopolis, so a child living out of state can proceed without repeated trips to Hot Springs County. | Asset discovery to confirm the estate qualifies and to locate accounts and mineral interests from out of state. Packet generation for the affidavit or the summary-distribution application, prepared so an out-of-state filer can proceed by mail. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because the estate holds real property that must be sold, it generally proceeds through a full administration rather than a small-estate route: with no will, the parent files in the District Court in Hot Springs County, is appointed administrator, and receives letters of administration; with a will, the parent probates it and receives letters testamentary. With that authority the parent can sell the Hot Springs County home and distribute the proceeds. Any hearing is held at the courthouse in Thermopolis, and remote access can be requested by emailing the clerk's office at least 24 hours ahead. | Asset discovery for the child's accounts and property. Packet generation for the administration or probate filing. Attorney referral if the sale or a dispute among heirs turns contested. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Hot Springs County Clerk of the District Court, (307) 864-3323 (hscounty.com) | The filing office for probate; the courthouse address in Thermopolis, the mailing address, the fee schedule, online fee payment through the CORE portal, and remote-hearing requests |
| Wyoming Judicial Branch self-help forms (wyocourts.gov/self-help-forms) | The statewide small-estate probate forms, including the affidavit for collection of personal property and the summary-distribution forms |
| Wyoming Judicial Branch legal help (wyocourts.gov/legal-help) | Statewide self-help information and help finding a lawyer for probate and estate matters |
| Equal Justice Wyoming (equaljustice.wy.gov), (307) 777-8383 | Self-help information and forms for wills and estates, and information on free and low-cost legal help; the successor to the older probono.wy.gov self-help site |
| Legal Aid of Wyoming (lawyoming.org) | Free civil legal aid for eligible low-income Wyoming residents |
| Wyoming State Bar lawyer referral and Modest Means Program (wyomingbar.org) | Referrals to Wyoming probate attorneys, with reduced rates for moderate-income clients through the Modest Means Program; confirm the current referral phone on the site |
When to hire an attorney
Many Hot Springs County estates are uncontested, and a small estate can often be settled without an attorney through the affidavit for collection of personal property or a summary-distribution decree. Consider counsel when the estate goes through a full formal administration, which Wyoming does not provide a do-it-yourself packet for, when the estate holds ranch land or mineral interests that must be sold or divided, when a will contest or a dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim, or when the estate includes a business interest or out-of-state property. The Clerk of the District Court can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Wyoming probate attorney serving Hot Springs County and the Fifth Judicial District.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Hot Springs County real estate and mineral interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Wyoming filing path fits your estate settlement before you file.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your path, whether a full administration, a summary-distribution application, or an affidavit for personal property, ready to file with the Clerk of the District Court in Hot Springs County, on paper or by mail.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Wyoming probate attorney serving Hot Springs County.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file for probate in Hot Springs County?
With the Clerk of the District Court in Hot Springs County, at the courthouse at 415 Arapahoe Street, Third Floor, in Thermopolis, or by mail to 415 Arapahoe Street, Thermopolis, WY 82443. Wyoming has no separate probate court; the district court, the state's general trial court, handles probate, and the Clerk of the District Court is the filing office. Note this is a different office from the county clerk, where a small-estate affidavit is filed.
Do I have to e-file probate in Hot Springs County?
It depends who is filing. Wyoming-licensed attorneys must e-file through the File and Serve system (mandatory since October 1, 2024). A self-represented filer cannot e-file in district court and instead files on paper with the Clerk of the District Court, in person or by mail. Call (307) 864-3323 to confirm the counter hours and any filing cutoff before you make the trip.
How much does it cost to file probate in Hot Springs County?
The fee to open a probate is $160, made up of a $110 filing fee, a $40 court automation fee, and a $10 indigent civil legal services fee, and it is uniform in every Wyoming county (W.S. 5-3-206). If an inventory or appraisement is filed for an estate of $5,000 or more, a graduated inventory fee also applies (W.S. 2-2-401). The Hot Springs County clerk's office accepts court-fee payments online through its secure CORE portal. There is no county add-on.
Can I look up a Hot Springs County probate case online?
Not through a free public docket search. Wyoming does not offer remote public access to district-court probate filings. To check a case, contact the Clerk of the District Court at (307) 864-3323, or view records at the courthouse in Thermopolis or at the Wyoming State Law Library.
Can I attend a Hot Springs County probate hearing remotely?
Sometimes. Some Hot Springs County hearings may be held by videoconference, but remote access is not guaranteed for every hearing. To request it, email the Clerk of the District Court at least 24 hours in advance with the hearing date and time, the names of the parties, and the case number if you know it. Many uncontested estates are resolved by the district court on the papers, with no appearance required at all.
What forms do I need for probate in Hot Springs County?
For a small estate, the statewide Wyoming self-help forms cover the affidavit for collection of personal property (W.S. 2-1-201) and the summary-distribution application and decree (W.S. 2-1-205), published on the Wyoming Judicial Branch self-help forms page. There is no statewide do-it-yourself packet for a full formal administration and no separate Hot Springs County form set; full administration documents are drafted to the district court's requirements. Confirm the current form on the self-help forms page before you file.
Does a small estate in Hot Springs County have to go through full probate?
Often no. When the estate does not exceed $400,000 (effective July 1, 2025) and at least 30 days have passed since death, personal property can be collected by an affidavit filed with the county clerk (W.S. 2-1-201) without opening a court case, and real property or mineral interests can pass by a summary-distribution decree in the district court (W.S. 2-1-205). A full formal administration is needed mainly for larger or contested estates. The statewide details are on the Wyoming state page.
What authority document does the court issue in a Hot Springs County estate?
In a full administration the District Court in Hot Springs County issues letters testamentary where there is a will, or letters of administration where there is not. A certified copy of the letters is what banks, transfer agents, and title companies rely on, so request enough certified copies for the institutions the estate deals with.
What is the phone number for probate in Hot Springs County?
(307) 864-3323, the Hot Springs County Clerk of the District Court office in Thermopolis. This is the county's own line; Wyoming has no statewide probate call center. Call to confirm the counter hours and any filing cutoff before making a trip, and to ask about arranging remote access to a hearing.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.