Listric, planar, low-angle, and high-angle normal faults are common in hanging walls of detachment faults. An elastic model has been developed to evaluate the role of basal friction, wedge geometry, pore fluid pressure within the wedge, and boundary conditions applied along the wedge rear in controlling the stress distribution in an extensional fault wedge. This model assumes a stress-free condition on the top and frictional sliding on the base of the wedge, respectively, a linear variation of stress components as a function of depth along the wedge rear, and a uniform horizontal stress applied on the wedge toe. The model predicts that (1) for the surface slope equal to zero, a thin wedge favors development of high-angle and planar faults, whereas a thick wedge favors development of low-angle and listric normal faults; variation of pore fluid pressures along the basal detachment fault hardly affects the predicted fault geometry; pore fluid pressure within the wedge is critical in controlling the state of stress in the wedge: higher values of the internal pore fluid pressure promote low-angle normal faulting and locally high-angle reverse faulting; (2) variation of surface slope and the uniform horizontal normal stress applied at the wedge toe does not affect the predicted fault geometry appreciably, although the distribution of deviatoric stress magnitude changes for different cases; and (3) listric normal faults are predicted in all computations and the fault curvature increases as the vertical gradient of the horizontal normal stress along the wedge rear, the wedge angle (surface slope+dip angle), and the internal pore fluid pressure increase. The model provides a simple conceptual guide to deciphering the formation of complex fault geometries and cross cutting relationships as a function of mechanical parameters related to geologic processes and settings. For example, it provides an explanation for why low-angle normal faults cut high-angle normal faults in hanging walls of some detachment fault systems in the U. S. Cordillera.