Wyoming Lien Waiver & Release — The Notarized Form Bolted to the Preliminary Notice (W.S. § 29-10-101, 2026)
✓ Verified against Wyoming statutes · Reviewed August 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Wyoming mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None — N/A
Mechanics Lien
120 days — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
180 days — From filing
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Wyoming Is the Only State That Puts the Notice and the Waiver in One Statute
A lien waiver and release is the document a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier signs to give up lien rights in exchange for a payment. Most statutory-form states file waivers in one place and preliminary notices somewhere else — Utah puts waivers in § 38-1a-802 and its State Construction Registry notice in § 38-1a-501, and California separates them by hundreds of code sections. Wyoming does not. Wyo. Stat. § 29-10-101 is titled Preliminary notice of right to lien; lien waiver form, and it hands out both documents at once: subsection (a) prescribes the preliminary notice sent to the record owner, and subsection (b) prescribes the lien waiver form. That structure is not an accident of drafting. Under § 29-2-112, the preliminary notice must tell the record owner two things: that the claimant may assert a lien against the property if it is not paid, and that the owner or contractor has the right to obtain a lien waiver upon payment. The notice announces the claim and advertises the release in the same breath, which makes the sequence unusually legible — notice first to create the right, waiver last to give it up.
The Two Wyoming Statutory Forms
Wyoming does not prescribe a conditional-versus-unconditional matrix or split waivers by payment stage the way most statutory-form states do. It prescribes one notice, one waiver, and the acknowledgment that authenticates the waiver. The subsection (a) preliminary notice of right to lien builds the claim: it is sent to the record owner, identifies the claimant, the work or materials, and the property, and advises the owner of the right to obtain a lien waiver upon payment. The subsection (b) lien waiver releases the claim: it recites the recipient, the project, and the sender, states the amount of payment received, provides for retainage, and declares that the undersigned does hereby waive, release, and relinquish any and all claim and/or right of lien against the project. The notarial acknowledgment block is executed at the same time and is not optional, identifying the signer as the lien claimant or by title, position, or type of authority granted by the lien claimant. Wyoming and Mississippi are the only statutory-form states requiring notarization. There is no conditioning clause and no payment-clearance trigger of the kind Utah writes into its statute.
The Uncertified Funds Clause — the Line That Decides Wyoming Disputes
The § 29-10-101(b) waiver acknowledges receipt of payment for the work performed or materials provided, and then adds that the waiver may be relied upon by the owner even where the undersigned accepts payment in uncertified funds. Uncertified funds means an ordinary business check — not a cashier's check, not a certified check, not a wire. Money that has been handed over but has not yet cleared. Put that next to the other statutory-form states and the exposure is stark. Utah's § 38-1a-802(3) makes a waiver void if payment is by check and the check fails to clear, restoring the lien, the bond right, and the contract right together. Mississippi gives a claimant sixty days to file an Affidavit of Nonpayment before a waiver hardens. Wyoming supplies neither mechanism, and goes further by writing an express owner-reliance provision into the claimant's own signed and notarized document. A Wyoming claimant who signs against a check that is later dishonored is not merely without a statutory rescue; it has affirmatively acknowledged, before a notary, that the owner was entitled to rely on the release. On a Wyoming job, either wait for funds to clear before the waiver goes to the notary, or require certified funds or a wire at the exchange.
The Preliminary Notice That Has to Come First
A waiver only matters if there is a lien right to release, and in Wyoming that right is fragile at the front end. Section 29-2-112 sets two triggers. A subcontractor or materialman must send the preliminary notice within thirty days after first providing services or materials to the project. A contractor must send it before receiving any payment from the owner, including advances. Failure to send the notice within the time specified bars the right of the contractor, subcontractor, or materialman to assert a lien. Thirty days from first furnishing is a short and easily missed window, because it runs from the first delivery or the first day of labor rather than from the first unpaid invoice, and by the time a payment problem is obvious the window has usually closed. There is also a second delivery obligation that gets overlooked: each subcontractor and materialman must provide a copy of the written notice to the contractor for which it is providing services or materials, not only to the record owner. Because a properly completed statutory form serves as prima facie evidence that notice was given, using the § 29-10-101(a) form exactly as prescribed and retaining proof of both deliveries is worth the small effort.
What Makes a Wyoming Waiver Enforceable
Subsection (a) and § 29-2-112 govern the notice that creates the lien right; subsection (b) governs the waiver that releases it. Both halves belong on the same checklist, because a Wyoming claimant can lose the claim at either end. The preliminary notice must go to the record owner on the statutory form, within thirty days of first furnishing for subcontractors and materialmen, or before receiving any payment including advances for contractors, with a copy to the contractor. The waiver must recite receipt of payment, waive and release the right of lien, state the amount of retainage being held, and be acknowledged before a notary. The form separately provides that the owner may rely on it even where payment is accepted in uncertified funds. The notarial acknowledgment is worth reading closely rather than skimming as boilerplate: it identifies the person appearing before the notary either as the lien claimant itself or by title, position, or type of authority granted by the lien claimant. On a job where a project manager or office administrator routinely handles paperwork, that clause is the record of who actually had authority to release the company's lien rights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Wyoming have a statutory lien waiver form?
Yes. Wyo. Stat. § 29-10-101 is titled Preliminary notice of right to lien; lien waiver form, and supplies both documents in a single section. Subsection (a) prescribes the preliminary notice of right to a lien sent to the record owner, and subsection (b) prescribes the lien waiver form itself. Wyoming is unusual in pairing them — most statutory-form states put waivers in one chapter and notices in another. The pairing is deliberate, because the § 29-2-112 notice must tell the owner about the right to obtain a lien waiver upon payment.
Does a Wyoming lien waiver have to be notarized?
Yes. The statutory form in § 29-10-101(b) includes a notarial acknowledgment block identifying the state, the county, the date, and the person signing either as the lien claimant or by title, position, or type of authority granted by the lien claimant. Wyoming and Mississippi are the only two statutory-form states whose waivers are executed before a notary. That requirement is also a practical protection, because it makes the casual on-the-spot signature harder than it is in states with no notarization requirement.
What does the uncertified funds clause in a Wyoming lien waiver mean?
It is the most dangerous line in the form. The § 29-10-101(b) waiver acknowledges receipt of payment and states that the owner may rely on the waiver even where the undersigned accepts payment in uncertified funds — an ordinary business check rather than a cashier's check, certified check, or wire. Wyoming is therefore the opposite of Utah, whose § 38-1a-802(3) voids a waiver if the check fails to clear. A Wyoming claimant who signs against an ordinary check has handed the owner an express reliance defense before the money is real.
What is the Wyoming preliminary notice deadline?
Section 29-2-112 sets two triggers. A subcontractor or materialman must send the preliminary notice within thirty days after first providing services or materials. A contractor must send it before receiving any payment from the owner, including advances. Failure to send the notice within the time specified bars the right to assert a lien. Each subcontractor and materialman must also copy the contractor it is working for. The notice must advise the owner of the right to assert a lien if the claimant is not paid, and of the right to obtain a lien waiver upon payment.
Does a Wyoming lien waiver cover retainage?
The statutory form addresses retainage on its face, with a place to state the amount being held rather than leaving it to inference. That only helps if the line is completed. A claimant that signs and notarizes the form leaving the retainage figure blank while the general contractor holds ten percent has given a notarized acknowledgment that says nothing about the withheld money, in a document that also recites the owner's right to rely on it. Complete the retainage line and reconcile it against the pay application before the document goes to the notary.
Can a Wyoming contractor waive lien rights in the contract before starting work?
The statutory scheme is not built for it. Section 29-10-101(b) frames the waiver as an acknowledgment that the claimant received payment for work performed or materials provided, which presupposes work already furnished and money already tendered, and the form is executed before a notary rather than buried in a contract signature block. A no-lien clause signed at the outset fits none of that. Advance-waiver enforceability varies sharply by state, so a contractor facing one in a Wyoming subcontract should have it reviewed rather than assuming it is void.
What is the difference between the Wyoming preliminary notice and the Wyoming lien waiver?
They are opposite ends of one statute. The subsection (a) preliminary notice builds the claim — send it inside the § 29-2-112 window and the lien right is preserved, miss it and the lien is barred regardless of anything else. The subsection (b) waiver releases the claim — sign and notarize it and the rights described are given up, and the owner may rely on it even against uncertified funds. Putting both in one section makes the sequence obvious: notice first to create the right, waiver last to release it, and never before funds are genuinely in hand.