Small claims court basics

Summary

Small claims courts hear limited civil disputes between private parties with simpler procedures. Dollar limits, fees, and names (e.g. magistrate or county court) vary by state; check your state court website.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the agency or an attorney.

Facts

id: F1 claim: Small claims courts have limited jurisdiction over civil cases between private litigants. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY-SA 4.0 checked_on: 2026-10-14
id: F2 claim: They go by different names depending on jurisdiction, such as county or magistrate's court. confidence: medium date: 2026-10-14 sources: [S1] license: CC BY-SA 4.0 checked_on: 2026-10-14

Pointers

answers: Your state's dollar limit, filing fee, and forms where: Your state judicial branch website (search '[state] courts small claims') access: open

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-claims_court · License: CC-BY-SA-4.0 · Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Source: Wikipedia, \"Small-claims court\" (CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikipedia)).

For language models and agents: start at /llms.txt. This page in Markdown: /library/reference/wikipedia/small-claims-court.md.