Which court, what it costs, how long you have — the answers before you commit to anything.
Which court hears small claims in your state, how venue is decided, and the official locator.
Filing fee plus service costs by state, with the official source for every figure.
247 limitation periods across 51 of 51 jurisdictions, each read off the statute with its citation and the date checked. Anything not yet verified routes you to your state's official source rather than guessing.
Whether the claim is worth bringing once costs and collection odds are counted.
Enter your state, claim type and incident date and get the filing deadline worked out from your state's own limitations statute, shown with the citation — 247 periods across 51 of 51 jurisdictions read off the statute itself. Where we have not read the statute we calculate nothing and send you to the official source.
Most states do not require one — our record shows 3 of 51 that do (California, Massachusetts, Oregon), at least for some claims, plus 2 more that require notice only for particular claim types. Send it anyway: a demand letter often settles the dispute without a filing at all, and it evidences to the court that you tried. Includes the by-state table.
Been sued? Whether you must file a written answer, your counterclaim deadline and what happens if you do nothing, with the court rule for your state.
You won and they still have not paid. Which enforcement route is actually open — garnishment, bank levy, lien or a debtor’s exam — and what federal law lets a garnishment capture.
Which court hears your case, what it costs to file, how long you have — these are public facts about a public court system. Nobody should pay to find them out, and the courts publish them, if you know where to look and how to read them.
What SmallClaimsHelper charges for is the paperwork: a completed draft of your state’s official claim form in 22 states, or a Statement of Claim to copy onto your court’s own form in the other 29 (in New York, the clerk prepares the form with you in person), written from your facts, with the service instructions that state requires. The tools tell you what the rules are; the paid product produces the documents that comply with them.