If you are the person who has a claim against another party then you will need to initiate the small claims court process by first obtaining the Small Claims Court form and then filling it out. You may be able to purchase this form online from your local small claims court website, or if it is not available online you can go down to your county courthouse and request the form.
Step #2: Fill Out the Small Claims Court Form Completely and Accurately
This step is important. The information that you will need to fill out this form includes: the correct name of the defendant, the correct address of the defendant, the amount of money you want to recover, and the reason for your claim (basis).
Make sure that you fill out the form using the defendant’s correct name and address as this information will be used to locate the defendant when serving them the summons to court. In most cases you will simply use the name that you know the person by and the address of their business or home residence, depending on the situation.
If the person you are suing using a business name that is different than their legal name you will need to fill out the name space as follows "Mary Jane trading as MJ Plumbing." Similarly if you are suing a person that is incorporated, for example Mary Jane, Inc., however, they are doing business under the name MJ Plumbing then you would fill out the form as follows, "Mary Jane, Inc. trading as MJ Plumbing." Businesses that use a fictitious or assumed name are required by law to file a fictitious name statement with their local clerk’s office at the local circuit court. This statement is required to list who owns the business, their address of business, and their address of residency and it can be used to locate the owner of the business that you intend to sue.
If you are only trying to recover money from your claim then you will need to fill out the form titled "Warrant in Debt." In order to fill out this form you will need to know the specific amount of money that you are seeking. You also must have a reason for trying to recover the money. This reason is the basis for your case.
If, on the other hand, you are trying to get a piece of property returned to you or delivered to you, then you will need to fill out the form titled "Warrant in Detinue." To complete this form you will need to be able to describe the property that is being wrongfully withheld from you, you must be able to quote its value, and you must be able to explain the reason why the property should be returned to you. This will be the basis for your case.