Emergency Guardianship in Wyoming: How W.S. § 3-2-106 Works in a Crisis

Your parent was just hospitalized after a fall, they cannot understand what the doctors are telling them, and nobody in the family has legal authority to make medical decisions. The hospital discharge planner is pushing for a nursing home transfer by Friday. You do not have months to wait for a standard guardianship hearing.

Wyoming's emergency guardianship statute — W.S. § 3-2-106 — exists for exactly this situation. It provides a fast-track path to temporary decision-making authority, but it comes with strict limits and tight deadlines.

When Emergency Guardianship Applies

An emergency guardianship petition is appropriate only when a delay in the standard court process would likely result in substantial harm to the parent's health, safety, or welfare. Typical scenarios include:

• A parent is hospitalized and incapacitated, with no advance directive or healthcare POA in place
• A parent with dementia is being financially exploited and assets are being drained in real time
• A parent is living in unsafe conditions and refuses help, with no existing legal authority to intervene
• A hospital needs consent for a time-sensitive medical procedure and no authorized decision-maker exists

The key threshold is "substantial harm" — not inconvenience, not family disagreement, but genuine risk to the parent's physical safety or financial estate if the court waits for full proceedings.

The Emergency Filing Process

You file the emergency petition in the District Court of the county where your parent resides or is physically present. The petition must include:

• Evidence that your parent faces imminent substantial harm
• Medical documentation supporting the claim of incapacity
• An explanation of why standard proceedings cannot protect the parent in time

The court must immediately appoint a guardian ad litem upon receiving the emergency petition. Under W.S. § 3-2-106(e), the court can appoint an emergency guardian without prior notice to the proposed ward or the GAL — but only if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the parent will suffer substantial harm before a hearing can be held.

The 48-Hour and 72-Hour Windows

If the court appoints an emergency guardian without notice, two rigid timelines begin:

48 hours: The proposed ward and the GAL must be served with written notice of the emergency appointment within 48 hours of the court order.

72 hours: The court must hold an evidentiary hearing within 72 hours of the emergency order. At this hearing, the court evaluates whether the emergency appointment was justified and decides whether to terminate it, extend it, or convert it into a temporary guardianship.

These are not guidelines — they are mandatory statutory deadlines. The court takes them seriously because an emergency appointment bypasses the due process protections that normally apply before someone loses their civil rights.

Strict Limits on Emergency Guardian Powers

An emergency guardian appointed without prior notice has narrowly restricted authority. Under W.S. § 3-2-106, the emergency guardian may make medical and medically related decisions only. They are explicitly prohibited from:

• Executing a durable power of attorney for healthcare
• Executing individual instructions (living will provisions)
• Executing a WyoPOLST or CPR directive
• Committing or admitting the ward to a psychiatric or mental health facility
• Directing the withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures

These restrictions prevent an emergency appointment from becoming a blank check over the parent's most consequential medical decisions.

The 90-Day Ceiling

Under W.S. § 3-2-106(b), any temporary guardianship of an adult is limited to 90 days, with a single possible extension of an additional 90 days upon a showing of good cause.

After that, the temporary order expires. If ongoing guardianship is needed, the family must pursue a full guardianship petition through standard proceedings — which means the complete process of medical evaluation, guardian ad litem investigation, formal notice to all interested parties, and a contested hearing.

An emergency guardianship buys time. It does not replace the need for either a permanent guardianship or, ideally, properly executed powers of attorney.

What This Costs

Emergency petitions still involve the $160 District Court filing fee, and most families hire an attorney for the emergency hearing given the compressed timeline. Attorney fees for emergency proceedings typically run $1,500-$3,000, depending on whether the petition is contested.

The guardian ad litem fees are paid from the parent's estate. If the emergency converts to a full guardianship, all the standard costs — bond premiums, annual accountings, ongoing court oversight — apply from that point forward.

The Takeaway

Emergency guardianship is a pressure valve, not a solution. It exists because some crises cannot wait 2-6 months for full court proceedings. But the limits are real: medical decisions only, 90 days maximum, and the court is watching closely.

The far better path is getting a durable power of attorney and advance healthcare directive signed while your parent still has capacity. The Wyoming Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit covers both the voluntary documents and the complete guardianship filing process — including the emergency pathway — so your family has a roadmap no matter what stage the crisis has reached.

See more Wyoming guides →