IN PLAIN ENGLISH
How custody works in Wyoming
In Wyoming, a judge decides custody based on your child's best interests. [WY-P1] The law says the judge must not favor or disfavor any form of custody, and can order any mix of joint, shared or sole custody. [WY-P1] The judge also cannot prefer a parent just because of gender. [WY-P1]
There is no statewide standard schedule. [WY-P1, WY-P3] The law requires the custody and visitation order to be written in enough detail that both parents understand it and can follow it, and to say how the cost of transporting your child for visits is split. [WY-P1] The statewide order form has boxes to pick a weekend pattern, a summer schedule and holidays by odd and even years, but the choices are filled in for each family. [WY-P3]
The most common arrangement in Wyoming is joint legal custody with one parent having primary physical custody and the other having visitation. [WY-P4] Wyoming's Supreme Court has said shared custody stands on an equal footing with other forms of custody, so it is neither favored nor disfavored. [WY-P7] Judges can order parents to take parenting classes at any time. [WY-P1]
Words you’ll see in your papers
COMMON QUESTIONS
What parents in Wyoming ask first
Does Wyoming start from 50/50?
No. [WY-P1] The law says the judge must not favor or disfavor any form of custody, and decides based on your child's best interests. [WY-P1] Wyoming's Supreme Court has said shared custody is on an equal footing with other forms of custody. [WY-P7]
What does the judge look at?
The law lists: the quality of your child's relationship with each parent; each parent's ability to care for your child, including arranging child care; each parent's fitness; each parent's willingness to take on parenting and to hand the child over to the other parent at set times; how the family can keep and strengthen its relationships; how the parents and child communicate; whether each parent respects the other parent's time and privacy; how far apart the parents live; each parent's physical and mental ability to care for your child; whether a parent must register as a sex offender; and any other factor the judge finds important. [WY-P1] Spousal abuse or child abuse counts against a parent. [WY-P1]
Is there a standard schedule?
Not statewide. [WY-P1, WY-P3] The statewide order form lets you choose a weekend pattern (such as every other weekend), a summer schedule and a holiday schedule, and the holiday schedule takes priority over the regular one. [WY-P3] Whatever is chosen has to be clear enough to follow. [WY-P1]
Does my child get to choose?
Wyoming's custody statute does not set an age at which a child decides, and it does not list the child's wishes as its own factor. [WY-P1] The judge may consider any other factor the judge finds relevant. [WY-P1]
Can I move with my child?
Every Wyoming visitation order must require a parent who plans to move to a new city or state to give written notice 30 days before the move, to the other parent and to the clerk of the district court, stating the date and where they are going. [WY-P1] If a court has ordered your address kept confidential because of domestic abuse, it stays confidential. [WY-P1] Distance between homes is one of the factors judges weigh. [WY-P1]
Can the order be changed later?
Yes. Either parent can ask to change custody or visitation. [WY-P1] The judge needs to see a material change in circumstances since the last order and that the change is best for your child. [WY-P1] If the parent with custody repeatedly and unreasonably refuses the other parent's court-ordered visits, the judge can treat that as evidence of a material change. [WY-P1] A parent's temporary military deployment alone is not enough for a permanent change. [WY-P1]
We were never married. What happens first?
If the parents are not married and paternity has not been established, the mother is considered to have custody and the father has no custody or visitation rights. [WY-P2] Once paternity is established, both parents can have equal custody rights unless a law or court order says otherwise, and either parent can file a case for custody, visitation and child support. [WY-P2] The court can decide custody when paternity is established. [WY-P1]
What if I am not safe?
When a judge grants a protection order for domestic abuse and it is in your children's best interests, the judge must give you temporary custody, and can allow visits with the other parent only if you and the children can be kept safe, for example through supervised visits, exchanges in a protected place, or no overnights. [WY-P5] In a custody case, if a judge finds family violence happened, visits must be set up in the way that best protects the children and the abused parent. [WY-P1] The law presumes a parent who must register as a sex offender should not have unsupervised visits. [WY-P1]
Free, official places to start
- Wyoming Judicial Branch: Child Custody and Visitation
The state courts' plain-language page on custody types, unmarried parents and paternity, with links to self-help packets.
- Wyoming Judicial Branch: Self-Help Forms
Free statewide form packets, including establishing custody, visitation and child support, and modifying an order.
- Wyoming Judicial Branch: Child Custody handout (May 2025)
A one-page explanation of legal, physical, joint and shared custody and how Wyoming courts decide.
THE DETAILED GUIDE · WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE THE LAW PROVIDES
No fixed statewide schedule identified
Research overview
No fixed statewide calendar identified. W.S. 20-2-201 requires well-defined case-specific custody/visitation terms, and official order forms are completed for each case. [WY1-WY3]
Legal force and applicability
Case-specific calendar; no fixed statewide calendar identified in reviewed sources. Any custody/allocation presumption is separate.
Authority and geographic scope
No fixed statewide calendar identified. W.S. 20-2-201 requires well-defined case-specific custody/visitation terms, and official order forms are completed for each case. [WY1-WY3]
Custody and parenting-time presumptions
Best interests controls; §20-2-201(d) says the court shall not favor or disfavor any custody form, including joint, shared or sole. It does not prescribe a 50/50 calendar. [WY1]
Schedule & conditions
Read these topics together with your actual order. A model, form, or presumption does not automatically supply an enforceable calendar.
Regular school-year schedule
Define actual parenting periods in the order. The official ECVSP22 order has fields/options, not an automatic standard weekend cycle. [WY3]
Holidays and school breaks
Holiday and special-day allocation belongs in the case order; no statewide fixed parity table identified. [WY1, WY3]
Summer and vacation time
Vacation and summer provisions are individualized; no statewide automatic block allotment identified. [WY1, WY3]
Age and development
Needs/relationships and fitness matter; no statewide age-tier minimum calendar identified in the reviewed statute and form. [WY1]
Distance, travel, and relocation
Geographic distance is an express best-interests factor. W.S. 20-2-202(a)(iii) requires the visitation order to require 30 days’ written notice of a change of home city/state to the other parent and district-court clerk, preserving protected address confidentiality. This is a notice rule, not a numeric mileage-triggered possession calendar. [WY1,WY4]
Safety & exceptions
Spousal/child abuse is contrary to best interests, and family-violence visitation arrangements must protect the child and abused spouse. W.S. 20-2-202(b) also creates a rebuttable presumption against unsupervised visitation for a parent required to register as a sex offender. [WY1,WY4]