Is it possible to sue my father?

Question

I loaned my father $1000. He has made no effort to pay me back. I do not have a contract. He needed it and I loaned it. Is it possible for a court to order him to repay me or am I out of luck?

This is in the State of Illinois
I am an adult

Answer 1

If you have a witness to a verbal contract, that should be legally admissable enough to at least get the trial to court. You basically need some sort of proof you loaned him the cash.

Answer 2

Anybody can sue anyone for anything. The question is, would you stand a chance of winning? You state you don't have a contract, so how would you prove this was a loan and there was an agreement it would be paid back? Remember, the burden of proof would be on you since you instituted the hearing. If he said "This was a gift, offered by him at a time when I had a need" could you PROVE differently?

Try talking to him rather than taking him to court.

Answer 3

As any lawyer will tell you - anything is possible - whether it will convince a court of law is another thing entirely! Having said that, if you have any sort of proof, cancelled check, witness, anything, you can file in Small Claims court for a nominal fee, and the basic premise is that if your father does not show up, you win, and can obtain a garnishment order against him. If this is what you really want - you will almost certainly complete any alienation from your father doing this.

Answer 4

The bottom line is that you can sue anyone at any time for anything. Whether or not the suit has merit, is another matter.

Most likely, this would come under small claims and the court would assign a mediator. You will have to pay a fee to file the paper, plus pay to have your Father served with papers to appear in court, if your State is similar to mine.

Now, all of this said, is it worth $1,000 plus your time, plus fees to do all of this? Only you can answer that.

Answer 5

Take your case to small claims court and it you present proof of the loan such as a cancelled cheque or a witness you may get a judgement against him. The judgement does not force him to pay is just establishes that a debt exists. It can however by used to have a garnishee order issued or assets siezed if the debt is not payed.

Answer 6

Since there's no contract, he'll have to admit to borrowing it in court for it to hold up, or you'll have to have pretty good evidence. Like a check or money order copy that proves you paid this money to your father, & you'll have to know the details, like your conversastion w/ him about it, & what he needed the money for etc. But, are you sure you want to ruin your relationship w/ your father over this? If you have children, are you sure you want to have them feel the tention from this? Cuz if you go to court, it may cause some big family problems.

Answer 7

You can sue whoever you want, but you will have to have some proof that he suddenly had $1000 that he didn't have before, and that you had $1000 less around the same time.

Answer 8

Its over $20, so sure. But I would strongly not recommend it. This could really tear your family apart man, you and your dad would be split forever if you take him to court, and it would force your family members to take sides. Just go find him and talk man-to-man, father-to-son. Find another way to work this thing out other than court.

Answer 9

If you don't have documented proof of the loan, it may be difficult to prove, but the fact that he is your father does not preclude you from pursuing legal resolution to the situation.

Answer 10

Of course, if you both understood it to be a loan, you can sue.
Call Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown!