Wrongful Death in Wyoming

Grant Harvey Lawson (J.D. 2007, University of Wyoming School of Law) has recently published his comment entitled Reconciling the Wyoming Wrongful Death Act with the Wyoming Probate Code: The Legislature’s Wake-Up Call for Clarification, 7 Wyoming L. Rev. 409 (2007).

The Wyoming Legislature should amend the Wrongful Death Act to provide clear, unambiguous provisions which set forth its true intention, and allow those seeking justice for the wrongful death of a loved one to bring an action successfully. The amendments should provide attorneys, judges, and those attempting to comply with the Wrongful Death Act with straightforward conditions to be followed. The Wrongful Death Act was initially enacted to allow those who suffered a loss due to the wrongful death of a loved one the ability to have their day in court. A plaintiff in a wrongful death action should be allowed to bring a case in the court of his or her choice. Probate matters, which involve concerns of creditors and debts associated with the probate estates of decedents, are not and should not be a concern in wrongful death actions. Without a clear statement of intent by the Wyoming Legislature regarding whether out-of-state personal representatives must have a corresponding in-state co-personal representative, diversity questions will continue to confront the courts and deny relief to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs should not be barred from bringing wrongful death actions due to a flawed technicality in the law.

The appropriate amendments to the Wrongful Death Act should include, at a minimum, a clear definition of personal representative, an explicit statement of who may benefit from wrongful death actions, and clarification that the heirs or beneficiaries of the decedent are represented in an action and not the estate of the decedent. Further, the Wyoming Legislature should consider adopting the dual approach, thus allowing wrongful death actions to be brought by an heir or a personal representative of the deceased. This approach would both simplify the law and allow the most flexibility in providing relief for those injured by a wrongful death. Above all, the Wrongful Death Act should be disentangled from the Probate Code and allowed to stand on its own as a clear statement from the Wyoming Legislature that persons injured by the wrongful death of their loved ones are able to obtain justice in all Wyoming courts.