Delaware Small Claims Court Limit: $25,000 Ceiling Explained
Delaware doesn't have a standalone small claims court. If you're owed money and want to handle it without a lawyer, you're filing in the Justice of the Peace Court — the state's entry-level court for civil money disputes.
The Current Limit Is $25,000
House Bill 232, passed by the 150th General Assembly in 2020, raised the JP Court's civil ceiling from $15,000 to $25,000. That number is exclusive of interest and court costs, so the actual judgment you collect can exceed $25,000 once those are added.
The court handles three types of claims up to that ceiling:
- Debt actions — unpaid invoices, broken contracts, unreturned deposits, defaulted loans
- Trespass actions — property damage from car accidents, vandalism, destruction of belongings
- Replevin actions — recovering specific personal property someone is wrongfully holding
Personal injury, medical malpractice, defamation, and pain-and-suffering claims are excluded entirely. The JP Court has no jurisdiction over those regardless of dollar amount.
What Happens If Your Claim Exceeds $25,000
You have two options.
Waive the excess. You can file in JP Court and permanently forfeit anything above $25,000. This makes sense when the speed, low cost, and simplicity of JP Court outweigh the extra recovery. You note the waiver directly on Form CF01 when you file.
File in a higher court. The Court of Common Pleas handles claims up to $75,000. The Superior Court has no monetary cap. Both require more formal procedures and longer timelines, and many litigants hire attorneys for those courts.
What you cannot do is split one claim into multiple smaller lawsuits to stay under $25,000. Claim splitting leads to mandatory dismissal.
Watch Out for Stale Information
Plenty of legal blogs and template sites still list Delaware's limit as $15,000. That hasn't been accurate since the 2020 enactment of House Bill 232. If a resource quotes the old number, everything else it says about Delaware procedure is suspect too.
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Filing Fees Scale with the Claim Amount
JP Court filing fees are tiered by how much you're claiming:
| Claim Amount | Filing Fee |
|---|---|
| Under $1,000 | $35 |
| $1,000 – $5,000 | $40 |
| $5,001 – $25,000 | $45 |
These fees are non-refundable even if you settle or withdraw before the hearing.
Getting Started
The $25,000 ceiling means most everyday disputes — contractor deposits, security deposits, unpaid invoices, car damage — fit comfortably in JP Court. The complete Delaware filing guide walks through the entire process from demand letter to judgment collection, including every form, fee, and deadline you'll hit along the way.
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Download the Delaware Small Claims Filing Checklist — a printable guide with checklists, scripts, and action plans you can start using today.