Divorce in Wyoming, handled from Jackson Hole.
Wyoming has one ordinary ground for divorce, a residency rule measured in days rather than months, and a decree that can be signed three weeks after the complaint is filed. What the statute leaves to the judge is everything that matters: who keeps what, what support is paid, and where the children live. In Teton County that judge is one person, and I have built cases for her courtroom for years. The work starts before anything is filed.
Call or text me. Clients get my cell number from day one, and I answer. Just been served? Here's what happens next.
Three things the statute settles.
A district court may decree a divorce "on the grounds of irreconcilable differences in the marital relationship" (W.S. § 20-2-104). No fault to prove, no consent required from the other spouse. Conduct still counts at the margins, because the property statute weighs "the respective merits of the parties."
One spouse must have lived in Wyoming for the sixty days before the complaint is filed, or the marriage was solemnized here and one spouse has stayed (W.S. § 20-2-107). The case is filed in the district court of the county where either spouse lives; for most of my clients that is Jackson.
From the day of filing the court can order either spouse to pay what the other needs to live on and to carry the case, decide where the children are while the case is pending, and freeze transfers that would defeat the decree (W.S. § 20-2-111). Those first orders tend to outlast the word "temporary."
The calendar.
The one date the divorce statute fixes is the earliest a decree can be entered: twenty days from filing (W.S. § 20-2-108). Every other deadline comes from the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure. An uncontested divorce, where both spouses agree on every term, moves at the speed of the paperwork and can be entered on affidavits without a hearing. A single disputed term makes the case contested and brings in discovery, mediation, and a trial setting. Most cases start contested and end uncontested; the work in between is what turns one into the other.
The honest unit of cost is time, and where the months go is information, not argument: complete financial pictures from both sides, a valuation both sides can accept, the guardian ad litem a contested custody case requires here, mediation if either spouse asks for it, a trial date on one district judge's calendar. The step-by-step page follows the case stage by stage.
- 01Sixty days before filing: one spouse has lived in Wyoming, or the marriage was solemnized here and one spouse has stayed (§ 20-2-107)
- 02Day 0: the complaint is filed in the district court of the county where either spouse lives (§ 20-2-104); within five days the clerk assigns the judge
- 03By day 90: the other spouse is served, or the case is subject to dismissal (W.R.C.P. 4(w))
- 04Twenty days after service, thirty if served outside Wyoming: the answer and any counterclaim (W.R.C.P. 12(a))
- 05Day 20 from filing: the earliest a decree may be entered (§ 20-2-108)
- 06Thirty days after the answer is due: initial disclosures under W.R.C.P. 26(a)(1.1)
- 07Agreed cases: a few weeks past the minimum. Contested cases: several months to a year or more, on the court's scheduling order
Deadlines from the Wyoming statutes and rules of civil procedure as of 2026. In a contested case the court's scheduling order controls discovery, disclosure, and trial dates.
What the decree decides.
- Property. Divided as "appears just and equitable" (W.S. § 20-2-114), weighing each spouse's merits, the condition each will be left in, who brought the property in, and the burdens it carries. No community property, no presumption of an equal split; alimony under the same section, without a formula. See dividing property, alimony, and, where a company or equity compensation is involved, the high-net-worth page.
- Children. Custody and visitation "in well defined terms" by the children's best interests, and child support from the presumptive table, with a financial affidavit before any support order. See custody and support.
- The decree. The judgment in the case, final on the judge's signature and appealable for thirty days. It can restore a former name, incorporate a settlement agreement so the court enforces it by contempt, and leaves the court able to revisit custody, support, and alimony later (modifications).
- Default. A spouse who is served and files nothing within the answer period can be defaulted, and a decree entered on the other side's affidavit. Being served and doing nothing is the one mistake in this chapter a better lawyer cannot undo later.
Separation, annulment, and who files first.
Legal separation, annulment, contested and uncontested, the served spouse's rights
Judicial separation
When grounds for divorce exist, a spouse may file the same complaint "but praying instead to be allowed to live separate and apart" (W.S. § 20-2-106). The court can do in a separation nearly everything it can do in a divorce: custody, support, disposition of property, alimony, and restraints on either spouse. The marriage continues. People choose it for health insurance that would end with a divorce, for religious reasons, or because one spouse is not ready and the other needs orders now. A divorce may follow later, and either party may ask to be discharged from the separation at any time.
Annulment
A marriage that was void from the start, because a spouse was already married, was mentally incompetent, was under sixteen, or was too closely related, or one that is voidable for force, fraud, or underage marriage without a judge's consent, is ended by a decree of nullity rather than a divorce. The proceeding runs like a divorce, and the decree can still provide for children and divide property. Annulments are rare; most people who ask about one want a divorce with a shorter history, which the statute does not offer.
Contested and uncontested
The words describe a moment, not a kind of marriage. A case is contested until every term is agreed and uncontested the day the last one is. What moves a case from one column to the other in Teton County is almost always mediation, which the court may order and must order if either spouse asks. An agreement reached there is written into a stipulated decree, signed by both spouses and the judge, and from that point the case is indistinguishable from one that was agreed from the start.
If you were served
A divorce is one lawsuit with two plaintiffs. The spouse who is served has the same right to file a counterclaim for divorce, ask for temporary orders, demand the disclosures, and set the case for trial, and a counterclaim keeps the case alive even if the spouse who filed first withdraws. The papers can look like an accusation; they are the opening of a process both of you now control. Read them with a lawyer before signing any decree that came with them, because a signed decree is a judgment, not a draft.
Questions people ask first.
Is Wyoming a no-fault divorce state?
How long do I have to live in Wyoming before I can file?
What is the fastest a divorce can be final in Wyoming?
Can I get support while the divorce is pending?
What is the difference between legal separation and divorce?
Does it matter who files first?
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Start with a confidential conversation with Aaron Herzberg.
A consultation is a scheduled working session, in person in Jackson or by video, in which we go through your situation and I tell you what I would do. It is a paid working session, not a sales pitch. The fee is quoted when we schedule. Your note reaches me directly, my office runs the conflicts check and puts the meeting on my calendar, and you can call or text any time.
40 E Simpson Ave, Jackson, WY 83001 · by appointment · video consultations for out-of-state clients · info@puzzlegroup.com