Wyoming
Wyoming has no statute on service deposits, and its Supreme Court looks hard at a kept sum: forfeitures are not favored, and every reasonable presumption is against one. In Skyco, a 2022 case about earnest money, a buyer’s deposit toward a purchase, the court held that a kept sum stands only if 3 things are all true: the loss is difficult or impossible to estimate accurately, the parties meant damages rather than a penalty, and the sum is a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable loss. A policy that reads as compensation for the time held, sized to what a missed appointment really costs, stands on firmer ground than one that calls the money forfeited.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Wyoming?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
In Skyco Resources v. Family Tree Corp., a buyer demanded its earnest money back, and the Wyoming Supreme Court held that a party seeking neither actual damages nor specific performance, a court order to go through with the sale, may keep earnest money only if it is liquidated damages, under a 3-part test: the injury is difficult or impossible to estimate accurately, the parties intended damages rather than a penalty, and the sum is a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable loss. It paired that with its earlier rule from Walker v. Graham, a house sale, where it called a clause saying payments shall be forfeited a penalty, because a land sale’s damages are not hard to estimate accurately, repeated that forfeitures are not favored, and refused to enforce the clause where the sellers had given up their right to it and proved no actual damages.
“only if all three of the following factors are present: First, the injury caused by the breach must be difficult or impossible of accurate estimation; second, the parties must intend to provide for damages rather than a penalty; and third, the stipulated sum must be a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable loss resulting from such a breach.” Skyco Resources, LLP v. Family Tree Corp., 2022 WY 72 · Walker v. Graham, 706 P.2d 278 (Wyo. 1985)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure statute was found. The full text of title 40 of the Wyoming Statutes (Trade and Commerce), the Consumer Protection Act included, was searched for refund policies with no match, and the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Unit pages name none.
Body-art rules and money
Wyo. Stat. § 14-3-107, the state statute that was read, addresses minors only and says nothing about deposits, refunds or prices.
Read: Wyo. Stat. § 14-3-107
This page summarizes public law in plain language, with the source each point comes from, read at the source on 2026-09-23. It is not legal advice.