how do you go about filing a small claims suit?

Answer 1

Easy...

1) Take your phone book and look under County offices (assuming you are in the US now).

2) Under the court house listings there should be a listing for Small Claims Court... call them and find out what you need to do in your jurisdiction

3) In general these are the following steps.... all may not apply to you.

a) You must have made a claim to the opposing party. Sent them a bill, invoiced them, sent them a letter... something. And they must have failed to pay you or reach resolution,.

b) You will go to the courthouse and complete a short form that makes your claim and establishes that this particular small claims court is the proper jurisdiction to hear the case. You will also be asked for the total that is owed. Do your homework first and make sure you only claim for costs that you can prove and to which you are entitled. For instance if you have an auto accident you can sue for damages and pain and suffering, but you can not sue for your time to prepare the lawsuit or go to court. (You CAN request reimbursment of costs - filing fees, xerox, process server, etc..)

c) You will give the completed form and whatever fee is necessary to the court clerk who will set a trial date and give you two sets of papers one is yours and;

d) You will have the other set served on the defendant in the manner required by your court. (Prob . best to have this done by a process server to make sure you get it done right. If done wrong you go back to step 2 after waiting 2 months or so.

e) Prepare for Court... get all your paperwork and proof together While you can not take a lawyer to court, you may have public resources available to you that will give you guideance and an informal review of what you propose.

f) Do not contact the defendant unless he/she/it contacts you. ie: No gloating or threatening ... this will look BAD in court. (very bad).

g) If the defendant contacts you listen and respond or, if appropriate do NOT respond and hang up. Maybe the suit will provoke a settlement so be open to that.

h) Go to court and be honest and respectful to the defendant and to the court. Do not yell or become emotional.. its hard sometimes but it helps your case. Conversely if you jump up and down and the defendant remains calm, you are sinking your own ship. Prior to the actual trial you will have to share all of your information with the defendant (called 'disclosure') so don't expect any Perry Mason type show... it aint gonna happen. They in turn must share all their evidence with you. This includes any witnesses that you plan to call.

Thats the basics..... good luck....

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Answer 2

Filing in Small Claims is quite simple really, the forms required are on-line and can be printed off and completed before you ever set foot in the court house. State your case and file with the Small Claims Court Clerk at the Court House in your jurisdiction. Pay the filing fee and wait for your day in court.

Answer 3

An oral settlement is purely as binding as a written settlement, the question will then be for the choose as to whose testimony is the top-rated. given which you had purely broken up, it could look logical which you're able to ask her to pay her proportion of the bill. i'm uncertain approximately the different costs which you have incurred, it is in all hazard a weaker component and the choose might take the view which you have been nevertheless to blame your proportion of the bill and hence she shouldn't take the can for all of it. yet you're able to actual prevail on on the 33% As for loss of wages, returned, this is purely a small claims case that may not take that long and is comparatively straight away forward, i does no longer carry your breath on claiming for any wages you have lost yet you may attempt although. do no longer forget to take all your correct information to courtroom. solid success

Answer 4

Go to the local court house and speak to the Clerk of Court. They'll fix you right up.