Hi, I wondered if someone could help. I had a lady starting in August but due to some very bad news she has had she is going to have to cancel. She paid me a deposit to keep the space . She has no idea if or when she might need me again and appreciates I can't keep the space but might contact me later. What should I do? I'm not sure what to do about the deposit and I'm not sure if I need to get her to sign anything else to say she is cancelling. Not sure how to play this at all. Advice welcome x

It depends on what you have in your policies about deposit. Normally they are non-refundable so therefore the money is yours as shes the one that's cancelled the contract

Yeah they are non refundable I just feel bad because of her bad news 😔

What does the contract say?
Mine says if the place is not taken up the deposit is not refunded.
I have never been in this situation... but I think it is just up to you and how strictly you want to play it. If your contract says 'no refund if place not taken up' then you are within your right to keep the money. That is what it is there for, to compensate you for the loss of income and annoyance because you now have wasted time waiting for this family and will have to start advertising again.
But, if I have another family lined up or found one easily and I was feeling sympathetic to the first family I might come to a compromise... depends how put out I have been by the whole thing.
If your contract is not clear on this matter then lesson learned- improve your contracts for next time.