Tools · Small Claims
Delaware Small Claims Checker (2026)
Enter your claim amount to see whether it fits under the Delaware small claims limit ($25,000), with the filing fee and whether a lawyer is allowed at the hearing.
Delaware small claims checker
The dollar amount you would ask the court for: the deposit, the unpaid bill, the repair cost. Interest and court costs usually sit on top of the limit, not inside it.
Enter your claim amount above to see it compared against the Delaware figures.
Where and how to file is procedure this page does not walk through; the official self-help resource is Delaware Justice of the Peace Court (civil). If your claim is a security deposit a landlord kept, the security deposit calculator shows the cap and the return deadline that apply to it.
- Your claim amount
- Not entered
- Delaware small claims limit
- $25,000
- Filing fee
- $35–$45
- Lawyers at the hearing
- Allowed
Plain-language summary, not legal advice.
Informational only, not legal advice, and not a prediction that any claim would succeed. Limits change and some states carve out claim types this summary cannot weigh. See the full rule and the citations on the Delaware small claims reference, cited to 10 Del. C. §9301.
How the Delaware small claims limit works
Delaware handles small claims differently from most states. There is no separate small claims division. Everyday disputes are filed as civil actions in the Justice of the Peace Court, which under 10 Del. C. §9301 hears contract, debt, and personal property claims up to $25,000. We confirmed the $25,000 ceiling on the official Delaware Courts Justice of the Peace Court civil page, which states the court may not award any amount exceeding $25,000. That cap is the highest small claims style limit in the United States, so a claim that would need a general civil court elsewhere can stay in the JP Court here. Filing fees for a debt action are low, roughly $35 to $45 by claim size, plus a small per-document technology fee. People may represent themselves, though the court notes that legal advice is wise for anyone unsure of the rules.
This checker compares your number to the Delaware ceiling; it is informational only and not legal advice, and it says nothing about whether a claim would succeed. For where to file and what the hearing looks like, use the official self-help resource linked in the result. The full rule and the citations are on the Delaware small claims reference.
Small claims checkers for other states
Same tool, each with its own ceiling and fee.