Wyoming funeral, cremation, cemetery and prepaid-plan rights

It is unlawful to operate a funeral establishment in Wyoming without a permit from the Wyoming State Board of Funeral Service Practitioners. The application must name the funeral service practitioner responsible for the establishment, and the establishment must pass a board inspection. Ask which licensed practitioner is responsible for the funeral home you are using. [2][1]

The board may discipline a licensee for refusing to promptly surrender custody of a body on the express order of the person lawfully entitled to custody. If you decide to move a loved one to another provider, ask the current funeral home to confirm in writing how and when the transfer will happen. [3]

A crematory needs a permit from the board, and so does a facility that reduces remains by chemical disposition. The application must designate a licensed funeral service practitioner responsible for the facility, and the facility must pass a board inspection. The overseeing practitioner must complete a board-approved operator certification program. Ask which facility will perform the cremation and who is responsible for it. [4]

A crematory may not accept remains until it has received the burial-transit permit required by law. The funeral director or practitioner in charge has the right to be present, in person or through employees, at any stage of the cremation. Remains may not be removed from the casket or container without the written authorization of the person who consented to or requested the cremation, and leasing a casket for a service before cremation is allowed. Ask whether a rental casket is available if you want a viewing before cremation. [5][6]

A cemetery organized by an individual, group, corporation or association must establish a perpetual care fund of at least 90 cents for each square foot of cemetery lot sold after the law took effect. For mausoleum vaults or crypts, the perpetual care fund is 20% of the purchase price. Municipal corporations and duly organized cemetery districts are excluded from this fund requirement. Ask whether the cemetery is privately organized and how its perpetual care fund is held. [7]

The cemetery must file a copy of each lot purchase or installment contract with the state insurance commissioner when it is entered into, and report the final payment or a default. Funds received and invested under this law are held as a trust and cannot be taken to pay the cemetery’s debts. Ask for a copy of your signed contract and confirmation that it has been filed. [7]

Wyoming’s Department of Insurance supervises and audits money from prepaid or prearranged funeral contracts for caskets, burial vaults, monuments or memorials, burial supplies and funeral services. A person may not sell these contracts in Wyoming unless licensed by the department. Ask the seller for its license details before you pay. [8][10]

A 2025 law, effective July 1, 2025, allows contract money to be deposited in an irrevocable pre-need funeral trust. Once the funds are deposited in such a trust, neither the purchaser nor the person the contract covers may cancel the contract or demand the money paid. The 2025 law states that it does not alter contracts entered into before July 1, 2025. Ask whether your money will go into an irrevocable trust before you sign. [8][9]

The same law directs the insurance commissioner to adopt rules requiring notice to buyers of the types of investments their money may be placed in, the risks of those investments, and their ability to cancel or demand amounts paid. Ask the seller for that written notice and keep it with your contract. [8]