Wyoming Health Department spokeswoman Kim Deti said the state would "pretty quickly" be able to provide hard-copy marriage licenses that do not mention the words husband or wife.

The electronic version will take a little more time and money because it involves programming, she explained.

Hospitals, such as Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, won’t see many changes as the state transitions, according to officials.

“In 2011, Medicare changed the regulations for any hospitals accepting Medicare or Medicaid payments,” said Matt Frederiksen, chief compliance officer. “We had to recognize domestic partnerships whether they were recognized or not, legal or not.”

The way the law stands now, Frederiksen said, there is the potential for a legal next of kin who disapproves of the relationship to try to overrule the domestic partner.

“I’ve been in health care 10 years, and we’re normally able to resolve that. … I’ve never encountered a situation where we couldn’t work through it,” Frederiksen said.

If it came to it, a court would have to decide who had the right to make medical decisions, although Frederiksen assumed that the court would rule in favor of the domestic partner.