Small claims court checklist

What is on this checklist

From demand letter to hearing day.

Before you file

• Send a demand letter and keep a copy
• Check your state’s small claims limit
• Check the deadline (statute of limitations)
• Find the right court (usually where they live or where it happened)

File

• Fill in the claim form and pay the filing fee
• Have the other side served the way your court requires
• Write down your hearing date

Hearing day

• Bring three copies of every document
• Contracts, receipts, photos, texts and emails, in date order
• A one-page timeline
• Witnesses, or their signed statements if allowed
• Keep it short: what happened, what it cost, what you want