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Small claims forms · Idaho

Idaho small claims court forms, filled in for you

Answer a few questions once. Vera fills in the Idaho court's own forms from your answers, walks you through anything left, and gives you one packet to file, with how to file it.

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If you were sued: your answer is due 21 days after you were served. Source: Idaho Code 1-2303 and the Summons (CAO SC 1-1): "Response Due at the Court Within 21 Days".

To sue (you're the plaintiff)

  • Claim (CAO SC 1-2)

    The court's own form (courtselfhelp.idaho.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Idaho Supreme Court's Court Assistance Office form. "Fill out these court forms: Claim form ... Summons ... Affidavit of Competence and Non-Military Service (Ada County)". You can also e-file them through Guide & File. "If you are a business filing the claim in a county where e-filing is available, you must e-file your documents" (CAO SC 1-1a).
    • The small claims department hears claims for money of up to $15,000, and for the recovery of personal property worth up to $15,000; it does not award punitive damages or damages for pain or suffering (Idaho Code 1-2301, as amended in 2026; CAO SC 1-1a).
    • File in the magistrate's division in the county where the defendant resides or where the cause of action arose (Idaho Code 1-2301). "There is a $69 filing fee for Small Claims cases" (CAO SC 1-1a; courtselfhelp.idaho.gov, Small Claims).
    • "No attorney at law shall appear before the court on behalf of any party at any trial, pretrial matter or posttrial motion in the small claims department"; a lawyer may still advise you and help you prepare. A business organization may be represented only by "an owner of a substantial interest in the organization or any nonattorney employee of the organization" (Idaho Code 1-2307(1), (2)).
    • Check the judicial district and county at the top: Vera fills the district only when your court's name says it, and the county only from your court's name. Vera filled your name at the top and under "Typed/printed name", you as plaintiff and the defendant on the first line of each, the first "Plaintiff’s Name" and "Defendant’s Name", and the case number if you have one. From your answers in Court forms it filled your mailing address, city, state and zip, telephone and email under your name, and the address, city, state, zip and phone of the first plaintiff and first defendant in the table, and if you said you are suing a second defendant, their name, address, city, state and zip on the second defendant row (write their phone there if you know it, and add their name in the caption at the top). Check each one (the form).
    • From your answers Vera also filled the claim after the first "$" at the right, AMOUNT OF CLAIM, the DATE CLAIM AROSE (month and year, from the date you gave for when it happened), and the BASIS FOR YOUR CLAIM (why it is owed and how you added it up). In the verification it wrote this court's county after "the Defendant resides in" only if you said the defendant is a person who lives in this county. Words longer than the basis lines end with "(continued on the attached sheet)" and go in full on a sheet added at the end: file it with the claim (the form).
    • Still yours: the filing fee, service fee, any other notice and the total at the right; personal property and its value, if you ask for property back; whether you want service by certified mail (Yes or No); the county if the defendant lives outside Idaho and the claim arose here; and any second plaintiff. The form has no line for a business's registered agent. Vera marks no box (the form).
    • Date and sign the certification under penalty of perjury. Make at least two copies: one for you and one for each defendant (the form; CAO SC 1-1a). Vera never signs or dates a form.
    • Someone 18 or older, not you, serves each defendant with the Summons, the Claim, a blank Answer and the Instructions for Defendant, by personal delivery (the sheriff, a process server, or another adult not involved in the case) or, for a fee, by the clerk by certified mail. File the Affidavit of Service (CAO SC 2-1); in most cases the deadline to serve and file it is 30 days, and some courts allow up to 90 days after you file (CAO SC 1-1b). Service by mail is requested on the claim and is complete when the defendant signs the return receipt (Idaho Code 1-2304(2)).
    • The defendant must file the answer within 21 days from the date of service. If no answer is filed, judgment may be entered; if an answer is filed, the court sets the matter for trial or mediation by notice mailed to each party (Idaho Code 1-2303(1), (2)).
    • If your claim is for a residential security deposit: refunds "shall be made within twenty-one (21) days if no time is fixed by agreement and, in any event, within thirty (30) days after surrender of the premises", and a refund of less than the full deposit must come with a signed statement itemizing the amounts kept (Idaho Code 6-321(2)). The landlord may not keep any part to cover normal wear and tear (Idaho Code 6-321(1)). The prevailing party is entitled to attorney fees in an action under that chapter (Idaho Code 6-324).

  • Summons (Small Claims) (CAO SC 1-1)

    The court's own form (courtselfhelp.idaho.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Idaho Supreme Court's Court Assistance Office form. File it with your Claim (CAO SC 1-1a).
    • Check the judicial district and county at the top: Vera fills the district only when your court's name says it, and the county only from your court's name. Vera filled you as plaintiff, the defendant, and the case number if you have one. Use the same caption as on your Claim (the form).
    • In the box "File the answer form you received, with the Court Clerk at:", the form asks for the court's mailing address, physical address if different, and telephone number. Ask the clerk if you are not sure (the form).
    • Leave the date and the lines at the bottom blank: the summons is issued by the "CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT", signed by a deputy clerk (the form).
    • The summons tells the defendant: "Response Due at the Court Within 21 Days" (the form). The defendant must file the answer within 21 days from the date of service. If no answer is filed, judgment may be entered; if an answer is filed, the court sets the matter for trial or mediation by notice mailed to each party (Idaho Code 1-2303(1), (2)).

If you were sued (you're the defendant)

  • Answer (Small Claims) (CAO SC 3-1)

    The court's own form (courtselfhelp.idaho.gov)

    What to know
    • This is the Idaho Supreme Court's Court Assistance Office form. It prints "No Filing Fee" (the form).
    • If you disagree with the claim, "You must file an Answer with the court within 21 days of receiving the Claim." If you agree, "You do not have to file an Answer": pay the claim or return the property; the plaintiff can then ask for a default judgment (CAO SC 1-2a). The defendant must file the answer within 21 days from the date of service. If no answer is filed, judgment may be entered; if an answer is filed, the court sets the matter for trial or mediation by notice mailed to each party (Idaho Code 1-2303(1), (2)).
    • Check the judicial district and county at the top: Vera fills the district only when your court's name says it, and the county only from your court's name. Vera filled your name at the top and beside "Typed/printed name", the plaintiff and you as defendant on the first lines, the case number if you have one, and from your answers in Court forms your mailing address, city, state and zip, telephone and email at the top. Check them (the form).
    • Item 2 asks "Do you agree that you owe money to the Plaintiff?" From your answers Vera marked No if you dispute all of the claim, or Yes if you do not dispute it, and wrote why you do not owe the money on its lines if you gave a reason. If you dispute only part of it and told Vera how much you agree you owe, it marked Yes and wrote that amount after "how much do you agree that you owe? $"; without an amount it marks neither, and you decide which box fits. Words longer than the lines end with "(continued on the attached sheet)" and go in full on a sheet added at the end: file it with the answer (the form).
    • Still yours: item 1, only if your name, address or phone is wrong or missing on the claim; and item 3, whether you agree to return any property, and why not (the form). Vera fills none of them.
    • Date and sign the certification under penalty of perjury. Make at least two copies, one for you and one for each plaintiff, and take them to the court where the claim was filed, or file through Guide & File (the form; CAO SC 1-2a). Vera never signs or dates a form.
    • The clerk schedules a trial and sends you and the plaintiff a notice with the date and time. "If you do not attend, the judge may grant the Plaintiff a Default Judgment" (CAO SC 1-2a).
    • "To ask the judge to order the Plaintiff to return your money or property, you must file your own Claim" (CAO SC 1-2b).
    • "No attorney at law shall appear before the court on behalf of any party at any trial, pretrial matter or posttrial motion in the small claims department"; a lawyer may still advise you and help you prepare. A business organization may be represented only by "an owner of a substantial interest in the organization or any nonattorney employee of the organization" (Idaho Code 1-2307(1), (2)).

Checked against the court's own forms and rules. Courts change forms; check with the clerk before you file. This page is general information, not legal advice.