Wyoming: Statute of Limitations on Debt Collection
The short answer
Wyoming is one of the few states in this survey with a genuine written-versus-oral split: a written contract, agreement, or promise gets 10 years, while an unwritten (oral or implied) contract gets 8 years. A signed written promise or a bare payment can each restart the clock. Wyoming's out-of-state-debt rule is unusually two-layered: a classic borrowing statute bars a claim here if it's already barred where it arose, and a separate rule caps a foreign claim against someone who later moves to Wyoming at 5 years after that person establishes Wyoming residency. Wyoming has no separate period for consumer debt. Expiration is the ordinary default: it's a defense the debtor has to raise in court, not an outright bar on suing.
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This is the general rule in Wyoming. Ezel applies current Wyoming law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | W.S. § 1-3-105(a)(i) (10-year period for a specialty or any contract, agreement, or promise in writing); § 1-3-105(a)(ii)(A) (8-year period for a contract not in writing, express or implied); § 1-3-105(a)(iii) (a 5-year period, measured from Wyoming residency, for a foreign claim or contract that accrued before the debtor moved to Wyoming); § 1-3-117 (borrowing statute: a claim already barred where it arose is barred in Wyoming too); § 1-3-119 (payment or signed written promise restarts the clock) |
|---|---|
| Written contract/debt deadline | 10 years: W.S. § 1-3-105(a)(i) covers 'a specialty or any contract, agreement or promise in writing.' Wyoming is a genuine written-versus-oral-split state, unlike many of the states already built in this survey. A contract for the sale of goods instead follows the UCC's own 4-year period (W.S. § 34.1-2-725), and a negotiable instrument like a promissory note generally follows Article 3's own periods (mostly 6 years, W.S. § 34.1-3-118) |
| Oral contract/open account deadline | 8 years: W.S. § 1-3-105(a)(ii)(A) sets a separate, shorter period for 'a contract not in writing, either express or implied.' This is a real 2-year gap from the 10-year written-contract period, a sharper written/oral distinction than most states surveyed so far |
| When the clock starts | § 1-3-102 runs the period from when 'the cause of action accrues,' without itself defining that moment for an ordinary contract claim (Wyoming's general default is the date of breach or default). § 1-3-106 supplies a discovery-based accrual rule for two specific claim types, wrongful taking of personal property, and fraud, neither of which is the default rule for an ordinary contract or account debt |
| Can a payment or promise restart the clock? | W.S. § 1-3-119 covers both mechanisms in one sentence: 'When payment has been made upon any demand founded on contract or a written acknowledgment thereof, or promise to pay the same has been made and signed by the party to be charged, the time for commencing an action runs from the date of such payment, acknowledgment or promise.' A bare payment restarts the clock on its own (no signature needed), while an acknowledgment or promise must be signed by the debtor to count: the same general shape as several other states in this survey, stated in a single unified section rather than two separate ones |
| Special rule for consumer debt | None found: the Wyoming Uniform Consumer Credit Code (W.S. Title 40, Chapter 14) regulates consumer credit sales, loans, and insurance charges in detail, but no section sets a distinct limitations PERIOD specifically for consumer-credit-transaction debt; the general written/oral split in § 1-3-105 applies to consumer and commercial debt alike |
| Out-of-state debt | Wyoming layers two separate provisions here, unlike most states' single rule. First, § 1-3-117 is a classic, unqualified borrowing statute with NO resident exception: 'If by the laws of the state or country where the cause of action arose the action is barred, it is also barred in this state.' Second, and separately, § 1-3-105(a)(iii) sets its own 5-year period, but measured from when 'the debtor establishes residence in Wyoming', for 'an action on a foreign claim, judgment or contract... contracted or incurred and accrued before the debtor became a resident of Wyoming.' That second rule isn't a borrowing statute in the usual sense (it doesn't import a shorter foreign period); it's an independent Wyoming-law deadline pegged to the date someone who owes an out-of-state debt moves to Wyoming |
| What expiration actually does | Ordinary affirmative defense: Wyoming treats an expired limitations period as a defense the debtor must raise; nothing in chapter 3 independently bars a creditor from filing suit on a time-barred debt |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Wyoming's contract-debt deadline lives in Title 1 ("Code of Civil
Procedure"), Chapter 3 ("Limitation of Actions"). Section 1-3-105(a)(i)
sets a 10-year period for a written contract, agreement, or promise (or a
"specialty," the old common-law term for a sealed instrument). Section
1-3-105(a)(ii)(A) sets a shorter 8-year period for a contract that isn't
in writing. Section 1-3-105(a)(iii) adds a special, residency-triggered
period for a foreign debt. Section 1-3-117 is Wyoming's borrowing
statute. And section 1-3-119 governs whether a payment or a signed
promise can restart the clock.
How long you have on a written debt
10 years. Section 1-3-105(a)(i) covers "a specialty or any contract,
agreement or promise in writing." Wyoming genuinely distinguishes this
from an oral debt, unlike many states already built in this survey. A
contract for the sale of goods instead follows the UCC's separate 4-year
period (W.S. § 34.1-2-725), and a negotiable instrument like a
promissory note generally follows Article 3's own periods (mostly 6
years, W.S. § 34.1-3-118).
How long you have on an oral or unwritten debt
8 years, a real 2-year gap shorter than the written-contract period.
Section 1-3-105(a)(ii)(A) covers "a contract not in writing, either
express or implied." Wyoming's written-versus-oral split is sharper here
than in most states surveyed so far, where the two periods are either
identical or differ by less.
When the clock starts
Section 1-3-102 starts the period when "the cause of action accrues,"
without itself defining that moment for an ordinary contract claim (the
general default is the date of breach or default). Section 1-3-106
supplies a discovery-based accrual rule for two specific claim types, wrongful taking of personal property, and fraud, but neither is the
default rule for an ordinary contract or account debt.
Can a payment or promise restart the clock?
Yes. Section 1-3-119 covers both mechanisms together: a payment made "on
any demand founded on contract" restarts the clock on its own, with no
signature required, while a promise to pay must be "signed by the party
to be charged" to count. Either way, "the time for commencing an action
runs from the date of such payment, acknowledgment or promise", a
fresh full period starting over, not just an extension.
Is there a special rule for consumer debt?
No. The Wyoming Uniform Consumer Credit Code (W.S. Title 40, Chapter 14)
regulates consumer credit sales, loans, and related disclosures in
detail, but no section there sets a distinct limitations period
specifically for consumer-credit-transaction debt. The general
written/oral split in section 1-3-105 applies to consumer and commercial
debt alike.
What if the debt originated in another state?
Two separate rules can apply. First, section 1-3-117 is a classic
borrowing statute with no resident exception: if the claim is already
time-barred under the law of the state or country where it arose, it's
barred in Wyoming too, full stop. Second, and independently, section
1-3-105(a)(iii) caps a foreign claim or contract that accrued before
someone became a Wyoming resident at 5 years after that person
establishes residence here, a separate deadline, not a shorter-of-two-
periods comparison, that runs from the date of the move rather than from
the date the debt was incurred.
What actually happens once the deadline passes?
The ordinary default. Wyoming treats an expired limitations period as a
defense the debtor must raise; nothing in chapter 3 stops a creditor from
filing suit on a time-barred debt outright.
What trips people up
Wyoming's two out-of-state-debt rules can point in different directions
and it's easy to check only one of them: section 1-3-117 asks whether the
claim is ALREADY barred where it arose (irrelevant to Wyoming residency),
while section 1-3-105(a)(iii) asks a completely different question, how long has it been since the debtor moved to Wyoming. A debt could
survive one test and fail the other, so both need checking. Separately,
Wyoming's sharper written-versus-oral gap (10 years versus 8) makes the
classification question, was this debt ever reduced to a signed
writing, more consequential here than in states where the two periods
are the same or nearly so.
Common questions
Does Wyoming give more time to sue on a written contract than an oral
one?
Yes, 10 years for a written contract, agreement, or promise, versus 8
years for an oral or implied one. This is a real, meaningful gap, unlike
several states in this survey that treat the two the same.
I made a payment on an old debt, did that restart the clock?
Yes. Section 1-3-119 restarts the full period from the date of a payment
made on the debt, with no signed writing required for the payment itself.
Can a debt collector still sue me after the statute of limitations
runs?
Yes, the filing itself isn't blocked, you have to raise the expired
deadline as a defense in court.
My debt originated in a state with a shorter deadline than Wyoming's, does that shorter period apply here?
Possibly, through two different routes: if the debt is already
time-barred under the law of the state where it arose, section 1-3-117
bars it in Wyoming too. Separately, if you're the debtor and moved to
Wyoming after the debt was incurred, section 1-3-105(a)(iii) gives the
creditor only 5 years from your Wyoming residency date, regardless of
either state's general contract period.
Statutes and sources
- W.S. § 1-3-105, "(a) Civil actions other than for the recovery of
real property can only be brought within the following periods after
the cause of action accrues: (i) Within ten (10) years, an action upon
a specialty or any contract, agreement or promise in writing; (ii)
Within eight (8) years, an action: (A) Upon a contract not in writing,
either express or implied... (iii) Within five (5) years after the
debtor establishes residence in Wyoming, an action on a foreign claim,
judgment or contract, express or implied, contracted or incurred and
accrued before the debtor became a resident of Wyoming;", https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-3/section-1-3-105/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - W.S. § 1-3-117, "If by the laws of the state or country where the
cause of action arose the action is barred, it is also barred in this
state.", https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-3/section-1-3-117/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - W.S. § 1-3-119, "When payment has been made upon any demand founded
on contract or a written acknowledgment thereof, or promise to pay the
same has been made and signed by the party to be charged, the time for
commencing an action runs from the date of such payment, acknowledgment
or promise.", https://law.justia.com/codes/wyoming/title-1/chapter-3/section-1-3-119/
(accessed 2026-07-09) - W.S. § 1-3-102, "Civil actions can only be commenced within the
periods prescribed in this chapter, after the cause of action accrues,
but where a different limitation is prescribed by statute, that shall
govern.", https://wyoleg.gov/NXT/gateway.dll/2023%20Wyoming%20Statutes/2023%20Titles/1/4
(accessed 2026-07-09)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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