Wyoming gives creditors ten years to sue on a written contract and eight years on one that is not in writing, among the longest periods in the country. A payment, or a signed written acknowledgment or promise, starts the clock over. Wyoming also has an unusual rule for people who move to the state already owing a debt.
The deadlines, and where each one is written
| What is being collected | Deadline to file suit | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| A specialty or any contract, agreement, or promise in writing | 10 years | W.S. 1-3-105(a)(i) |
| A contract not in writing, express or implied | 8 years | W.S. 1-3-105(a)(ii)(A) |
| A foreign claim, judgment, or contract incurred and accrued before the debtor became a Wyoming resident | 5 years after the debtor establishes residence in Wyoming | W.S. 1-3-105(a)(iii) |
Section 1-3-105(a) sets the periods “after the cause of action accrues”: “[w]ithin ten (10) years, an action upon a specialty or any contract, agreement or promise in writing,” and “[w]ithin eight (8) years, an action … [u]pon a contract not in writing, either express or implied.”
Ten years or eight? It depends on the writing
The Wyoming code does not mention credit cards. Whether a card balance is a “contract, agreement or promise in writing” (ten years) or “a contract not in writing” (eight years) is not answered by the statute.
What this means in practice: in Wyoming the gap is two years, and both numbers are long. For most consumer debts the more important questions are when the claim accrued and whether a later payment restarted it.
Moved to Wyoming owing a debt?
Section 1-3-105(a)(iii) gives a separate period for “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”: five years “after the debtor establishes residence in Wyoming.”
Section 1-3-117 adds a borrowing rule: “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.” Read together, a debt from another state that is already time-barred there is barred in Wyoming too, and one that is still alive must be brought within five years after the debtor became a Wyoming resident. The code does not say how the two sections interact with the ten- and eight-year periods in every case.
What pauses the clock
Under § 1-3-116, if the debtor is out of the state, or “has absconded or concealed himself,” when the claim accrues, the period “does not begin to run until he comes into the state or while he is so absconded or concealed,” and later absence or concealment is not counted.
What restarts the clock in Wyoming
Wyoming answers directly, in § 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.
So a payment on a contract debt starts the period over from the date of the payment. A written acknowledgment or promise does the same if it is signed by the debtor. The section does not say whether it applies to a debt whose period has already run.
How often Wyoming consumers report collection problems
Wyoming consumers filed 166 debt collection complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the 12 months ending October 7, 2026, which is 0.1% of the 316,737 filed nationwide and ranks 51st among reporting states.
Of those, 48, or 29% of the Wyoming total, were categorized as a collector taking or threatening to take negative or legal action, against 25% nationally.
These are raw complaint counts, not rates. They are not adjusted for population, and a complaint is an allegation the CFPB has published, not a finding that a company broke the law. The figures refresh weekly from the CFPB’s public database.
If you are sued on a debt you believe is too old
The statute of limitations is a defense you have to raise in your answer. A person who does not respond to a Wyoming collection suit can lose by default.
Three Wyoming-specific things to check: the date of your last payment, which restarts the clock under § 1-3-119; whether the debt arose before you moved to Wyoming, which brings in the five-year rule and the borrowing rule; and whether the creditor claims a written contract (ten years) or an unwritten one (eight). Court deadlines are short, so this is a point at which speaking with a Wyoming attorney or a legal aid organization is worth the call.
How Wyoming compares
The same question gets a different answer a state line away. These are the closest comparisons to Wyoming:
- Montana: next door, six years written and five unwritten
- Idaho: next door, five years written and four unwritten
- Colorado: next door, six years on a liquidated debt and three otherwise
The full comparison table covers every state we have published.
Sources and verification
Statutes quoted from the Wyoming Statutes as published by the Wyoming Legislature, Title 1, Chapter 3 (Limitation of Actions), from the Legislature’s compiled Title 1 file dated May 8, 2026. Provisions cited: W.S. 1-3-105, 1-3-116, 1-3-117, and 1-3-119; we reviewed the full text of Chapter 3. Text retrieved October 2, 2026. Complaint data: CFPB Consumer Complaint Database, filtered to the Debt collection product and the Wyoming state field over a rolling 12-month window, re-queried weekly by this site. Our data sources and update policy lists every figure on this site that refreshes automatically and how often.
This page explains what the Wyoming statutes say. It is general information, not legal advice. It does not say whether a credit card is a written contract, or how the five-year rule for new residents interacts with the other periods in every case, because the code does not.
Frequently asked questions
What is the statute of limitations on debt in Wyoming?
Ten years on a specialty or any contract, agreement, or promise in writing, and eight years on a contract not in writing, under W.S. 1-3-105(a).
Does a payment restart the statute of limitations in Wyoming?
Yes. Under W.S. 1-3-119, when a payment has been made on any demand founded on contract, the time for commencing an action runs from the date of the payment.
Does an acknowledgment have to be in writing in Wyoming?
Yes. Section 1-3-119 restarts the clock on a written acknowledgment or a promise to pay that has been made and signed by the party to be charged.
I moved to Wyoming with an old debt. How long can I be sued?
Under W.S. 1-3-105(a)(iii), an action on a foreign claim or contract that accrued before the debtor became a Wyoming resident must be brought within five years after the debtor establishes residence in Wyoming. Under § 1-3-117, a claim already barred where it arose is also barred in Wyoming.