Chapter 9 - Proceedings To Establish Title Without Administration
CHAPTER 9 - PROCEEDINGS TO ESTABLISH TITLE WITHOUTADMINISTRATION
ARTICLE 1 - SURVIVING REMAINDERMAN OR JOINT TENANTS
2-9-101. Petition to establish rights upon death of owner of lifeestate or joint interest in realty; notice; decree; recording and effectthereof.
Ifany person dies seized of a life estate which terminates by reason of hisdeath, or of an estate by the entireties, or of an estate by joint tenancy orjoint estate with another, any person interested in the property or in thetitle thereto may file in the district court of the county in which theproperty is situated a verified petition setting forth such facts. After two(2) weeks notice by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in thecounty, or otherwise as the court may order, the court shall hear the petitionand the evidence offered in support thereof. If upon hearing it appears to thecourt that such life estate, estate by entireties, estate by joint tenancy orjoint estate was created and vested, and that the life estate of the deceasedperson terminated by reason of death, or that the estate by entireties remainsvested solely in the surviving spouse by reason of death, or that the estate byjoint tenancy or joint estate remains vested solely in the surviving jointtenant or joint tenants, the court shall so decree. A certified copy of thedecree shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk and thereafter thedecree and the record thereof together with the record of the instrument orinstruments purporting to create the life estate, estate by entireties, estateby joint tenancy or joint estate, shall be presumptive evidence of the creationof such estate, the termination thereof and the survivorship of the estate byentireties, estates by joint tenancy or joint estate.
2-9-102. Affidavit of survivorship; recordation; copy of deathcertificate to be attached.
Ifany person dies who is the owner of a life estate which terminates by reason ofhis death, or if any person dies who is the owner with his surviving spouse ofan estate by entireties, or if any person dies who is the owner with another ofa joint estate or an estate in joint tenancy, any person interested in theaffected property or the title thereto may make the death a matter of record byrecording in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the propertyis situate an affidavit describing the property, the instrument under which theestate was vested with appropriate references to its recording data if theinstrument was recorded, and certifying under oath to the death of the decedentas the party who was named in and whose death terminated his previous estate inthe property under the vesting instrument. The affidavit shall have attachedthereto a copy of the official death certificate of the decedent, certified toby the public authority in which the original death certificate is a matter ofrecord.
2-9-103. Affidavit of survivorship; prima facie evidence; proceduredeemed independent.
Eachaffidavit signed, sworn to and recorded substantially in compliance with theprovisions of W.S. 2-9-102, constitutes prima facie evidence that all factsrecited therein are true. The permissive and nonjudicial procedure provided byW.S. 2-9-102 and 2-9-103 shall be independent of and shall not affect or beaffected by the procedure provided under W.S. 2-9-101.
ARTICLE 2 - DETERMINATION OF HEIRSHIP
2-9-201. Application by petition two years after death; where filed.
Whenmore than two (2) years have elapsed since the death of a person residing inthis state, or residing outside of this state but owning real estate or anyinterest therein situated within this state, or who has made entry on anygovernment lands and has not received patent therefor, and there has been noprevious, record judicial determination of the decedent's heirs or the right ofdescent of the real property interest, any heir of the deceased or other personhaving derived title to any real property or any interest therein from thedeceased or from any of his heirs either by direct or mesne conveyances, maymake application by petition to the court or commissioner of the county inwhich the deceased was a resident at the time of his death, or if a nonresidentof the state at the time of his death then in the district court of the countywhere the real estate or some part thereof belonging to the deceased in hislifetime is situated, for determination of the time of death of the decedentand a determination of the heirs of the deceased, the degree of kinship and theright of descent of the real property belonging to the deceased.
2-9-202. Application by petition two years after death; fixing timefor hearing; notice thereof; contents.
Uponfiling the petition the court shall fix a time for hearing the petition notless than thirty (30) days after the filing thereof. Notice of the time andplace of hearing shall be given to all persons interested in the proceedingincluding creditors, heirs and devisees, setting forth the filing of thepetition, the date of the supposed death of the deceased, his place ofresidence, a description of the real property or interest therein of which hedied seized or a description of the real property on which he had made an entrybut had not yet received patent and the interest in the real estate of thepetitioner. The notice shall be published once a week in a newspaper of generalcirculation in the county for four (4) consecutive weeks prior to the hearing,and shall be mailed simultaneously with the first publication to those personsdesignated in W.S. 2-7-205.
2-9-203. Application by petition two years after death; hearing;determination and decree.
Uponhearing, if it appears to the court that more than two (2) years have elapsedsince the death of the deceased, that he died seized of an interest in lands inthis state or that he died intestate having entered government lands and nothaving received a patent therefor, and there has been no previous recordjudicial determination of the decedent's heirs or the right of descent of thereal property interest, the court shall determine the date of the decedent'sdeath, who were the heirs of the deceased upon the date of death, their degreeof kinship and the right of descent of the real property or interest therein ofwhich the deceased died seized or on which he had made an entry but had not yetreceived a patent therefor, and shall make and enter its decree accordingly.
2-9-204. Procedure when applicant for public land dies and patentissued to heirs.
(a) Whenever any person makes entry on any land in the UnitedStates and dies before patent for the same is issued and patent thereafter isissued to the heirs at law of the decedent, any person interested in the landsas heir at law or devisee or as grantee or assignee of such heirs at law ordevisee, or the personal representative of any of them if deceased, may file apetition in the district court in and for the county wherein the land or anypart thereof is situate, setting forth the date of death of the decedent, thedate of issuance of the patent and that the patent was issued to the heirs atlaw of the deceased person, the land described therein, the names, ages andresidence if known of the heirs at law of the deceased persons and a requestthat a decree be entered by the court establishing who are the heirs at law ofthe deceased person. Upon filing of the petition the clerk of court shall makean order fixing the time and place of hearing of the petition not less thanthirty (30) days from the filing of the petition.
(b) Notice of the time and place for hearing the petition shallbe given by publishing notice thereof at least once each week for three (3)successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation in the county and themailing of true copies to all known heirs of the deceased person at least ten(10) days prior to the date fixed for the hearing. Proof of publication andmailing shall be made to the court upon the hearing. Any time before the datefixed for the hearing any person interested in the lands as heir at law ordevisee of the decedent or as the grantee of any such heir at law or devisee,may answer the petition and deny any of the matters contained therein. At thetime fixed for the hearing or at such time thereafter as may be fixed by thecourt, the court shall hear the proofs offered by petitioner and any personanswering the same, and shall make a decree conformable to the proofs. Thedecree shall have the same force and effect as decrees entered in accordancewith the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure.