Florida Small Claims Court: $8,000 Limit, Fees and How to File

In Florida, you can use small claims procedures for a claim worth up to $8,000, not counting costs, interest and attorney's fees. That limit is set by Florida Small Claims Rule 7.010(b), a Florida Supreme Court rule rather than a statute, and Florida has no separate small claims court: these cases are heard in county court.

The limit has been $8,000 since January 1, 2020, when it rose from $5,000, so older pages that still show $5,000 are out of date. This guide follows a Florida small claims case from filing to collecting your money. For other states, see our guide to small claims court by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-06. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers small claims cases in Florida county courts under the Florida Small Claims Rules (Rules 7.010 to 7.230, as compiled July 1, 2026), together with the Florida Statutes on court fees, indigent status and judgment liens. It does not cover evictions, county court cases above $8,000 that follow the regular Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, or small claims in other states.

Florida small claims limit

Rule 7.010(b) makes the Small Claims Rules apply to "all actions of a civil nature in the county courts which contain a demand for money or property, the value of which does not exceed $8,000 exclusive of costs, interest, and attorneys' fees."

If your claim is bigger, it does not go to small claims, but it may still stay in county court:

The $50,000 county court limit applies to cases filed on or after January 1, 2023, not counting interest, costs and attorney's fees. Section 34.01 schedules its next inflation adjustment for July 1, 2030, and says the limit can never drop below $50,000.

Because the $8,000 figure is a court rule, a change would come from the Florida Supreme Court amending Rule 7.010. The court amended Rules 7.010 and 7.020 effective January 1, 2026, but the July 1, 2026 compilation of the rules still sets the limit at $8,000.

Every claim also has a filing deadline. Check the Florida statute of limitations for your type of claim before you file.

Who can file and who must use a lawyer

Individuals and businesses can both file. Lawyers are allowed but not required: Rule 7.090(a) lets parties appear "personally or by counsel."

Businesses. "Any business entity recognized under Florida law may be represented at any stage of the trial court proceedings by any principal of the business entity who has legal authority to bind the business entity or any employee authorized in writing by a principal of the business entity" (Rule 7.050(a)(2)). The written authorization uses Form 7.350. That permission covers the trial court only. A non-attorney may not represent a business entity in an appeal (Rules 7.050(a)(2) and 7.230(b)).

Debt buyers and collectors. The court may require a plaintiff whose business is collecting claims it holds by purchase, assignment or a management arrangement to be represented by a lawyer (Rule 7.050(a)(2)).

If you have no lawyer. The judge may help unrepresented parties with courtroom decorum, the order in which evidence is presented, and handling private information, but may not instruct either side on the rules of law (Rule 7.140(e)).

Suing a state or local government. Before you sue the State, a state agency, a county or a city on a tort claim, such as injury or property damage, you must present the claim in writing to the agency (and, except for a county or city, to the Department of Financial Services) and have it denied in writing; no final decision within 6 months counts as a denial (s. 768.28(6), Fla. Stat.).

Filing fees

Florida has no single statewide small claims fee. Section 34.041(1)(a), Florida Statutes, sets the county court filing fee as an amount "not to exceed" a cap for each tier, and adds a $4 fee to the clerk (s. 34.041(1)(b)) and a $10 summons charge (s. 34.041(1)(d)). What you actually pay is set by your county clerk.

The Jackson County example also charges $10 per defendant for the clerk to sign and seal each summons, and $7 more per defendant if the clerk prepares it. Other counties charge differently. Ask your county clerk for its current small claims fee schedule before you file.

Other costs:

• Sheriff service. Florida sheriffs charge "$40 for each summons or writ to be served" (s. 30.231, Fla. Stat.).
• Certified-mail service. If the clerk serves by certified mail, the cost is added to the filing fee (Rule 7.070(a)); the amount varies by county.
• Collection. A sheriff charges $40 per writ of execution and $50 per levy (s. 30.231(1)(d)), and the clerk may charge up to $85 for a garnishment (s. 34.041(1)(a)6.).

If you cannot afford the fees. Under s. 57.082, Florida Statutes, a person who cannot pay "must apply to the clerk of the court for a determination of civil indigent status." The application uses a form approved by the Florida Supreme Court, the clerk must help you complete it, and you can ask the court to review a denial. Indigent status gives relief from filing fees and prepayment of costs under s. 57.081.

Where to file

You file in the county court of a county where venue is proper. The notice required by Rule 7.060(a) lists the proper places to sue:

• Where the contract was entered into.
• For an unsecured promissory note, where it was signed or where the maker lives.
• To recover property or foreclose a lien, where the property is located.
• Where the event giving rise to the suit occurred.
• Where any defendant lives.
• Any location agreed to in the contract.
• For money due with no agreement on venue, where payment is to be made.

If you were sued in the wrong place. Under Rule 7.060(a), a defendant "must appear on your court date and orally request a transfer or you must file a written request for transfer in affidavit form (sworn to under oath) with the court 7 days prior to your first court date."

Florida's official small claims forms (Forms 7.322 to 7.350, including the statement of claim forms) are printed in the Florida Small Claims Rules. Your county clerk can tell you which forms it uses and whether you can file online.

Serving the defendant

The defendant must be served with a summons (notice to appear) and a copy of your statement of claim. Under Rules 7.060(b) and 7.070, service can be made:

• As provided by law or by Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.070, for example by the sheriff or a process server.
• By certified mail, for Florida residents only, with a return receipt "signed by the defendant, or someone authorized to receive mail at the residence or principal place of business of the defendant." The clerk or an attorney of record mails it.

Time limit for service. Under Rule 7.070(b), as amended effective July 1, 2026, if the defendant is not served within 120 days after you file, the court must either order service within a set time or dismiss the case without prejudice. If you ask for more time before the 120 days run out, you get another 120 days.

If service fails before the pretrial conference. If the summons comes back unserved and the return is filed 5 days before the pretrial conference, the conference is canceled as to that defendant. You can then ask for a new summons and a new date (Rule 7.090(b)).

The pretrial conference and mediation

Your first court date is usually not the trial. It is a pretrial conference, which "shall be set by the clerk not more than 50 days from the date of the filing of the action" (Rule 7.090(b)). Both sides must appear, in person or by communication technology. The conference may be run by court staff under a judge's oversight, with a judge available.

At the pretrial conference the court looks at narrowing the issues, admissions, limits on witnesses and the chance of settlement. Mediation may take place at the conference (Rule 7.090(f)), and court-program mediation fees cannot be charged in a small claims case (s. 44.108(2), Fla. Stat.).

A defendant who does not appear at the pretrial conference faces a default.

If you are the defendant

You do not have to file a written answer unless the court orders one. Filing one does not excuse you from appearing in person at the pretrial conference (Rule 7.090(c)).

Counterclaims. If you have a claim against the plaintiff arising from the same transaction, it is compulsory: you must file it no less than 5 days before the pretrial conference, or within the time the court sets, or it is abandoned (Rule 7.100(a)). A counterclaim about something else must still fall within the court's jurisdiction. If your counterclaim or setoff is larger than the small claims limit, the case is transferred to the court that can hear it, and you must deposit the filing fee for the transfer or you waive the transfer (Rule 7.100(d)).

Jury trial. You get a jury only if you demand one in writing. The plaintiff must demand one when filing; the defendant must demand one within 10 days after being served or at the pretrial conference. Otherwise the right is waived (Rule 7.150(a)).

Default. "If the defendant does not appear at the scheduled time, the plaintiff is entitled to a default to be entered by either the judge or clerk" (Rule 7.170). The judge then takes evidence on the amount of damages and may look into whether the case was filed in an improper location.

The trial

If the case does not settle at the pretrial conference, the trial must be set no more than 60 days after the conference, with at least 10 days' notice (Rule 7.090(d)).

The trial is informal but orderly. The rules of evidence apply but are "liberally construed," and testimony may be taken by communication technology (Rule 7.140(f)). Before judgment, the judge must make an effort to help the parties settle (Rule 7.140(d)).

If the plaintiff does not show up at the pretrial conference, the court may dismiss the case for lack of prosecution, let the defendant proceed, or continue the case (Rule 7.160). A case with no activity in the record for 6 months can be dismissed for failure to prosecute after 30 days' notice (Rule 7.110(e)).

After the judgment: new trial, relief and appeals

Motion for new trial. In a case tried without a jury, a motion for a new trial is due within 15 days after the judgment is filed (Rule 7.180(a)).

Relief from a judgment, including a default. Rule 7.190(b) lets a party ask the court to set aside a judgment for reasons including mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, newly discovered evidence, fraud, a void judgment or a judgment already satisfied. The motion must be made within a reasonable time and, for the grounds in subdivisions (b)(1) to (b)(3), "not more than 1 year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was entered or taken." Filing the motion does not suspend the judgment.

Appeals. Any party unhappy with a final small claims judgment can appeal under the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure (Rule 7.230(a)). Since January 1, 2021, the appeal goes to your district court of appeal, not the circuit court, which now hears appeals only where a law expressly provides for them (s. 26.012(1), Fla. Stat., as amended by ch. 2020-61). The appeal reviews the county court's decision; it is not a new trial. Under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(b), you start the appeal "by filing a notice with the clerk of the lower tribunal within 30 days of rendition of the order to be reviewed." A business must have a lawyer for the appeal (Rule 7.230(b)).

Filing an appeal costs $300 for the district court of appeal (s. 35.22(2)(a), Fla. Stat.) plus a fee of up to $100 charged by the county clerk when you file the notice (s. 28.241(2)(b)). If you cannot pay, ask the clerk about indigent status.

Costs and fees. To have costs or attorney's fees added to the judgment, serve a motion no later than 30 days after the judgment is filed; after a default judgment no motion is needed if you asked for them in your statement of claim (Rule 7.175).

Collecting your judgment

Winning a judgment does not by itself put money in your hands. The collection steps below generally start only when you ask for them.

When you can start. Execution may issue on an oral request, but not until the judgment is entered and the time for a motion for new trial has passed, or until a timely motion is decided, unless the court orders otherwise (Rule 7.200). The court may also approve a stipulation letting the debtor pay in installments; if the debtor misses payments, you can get execution by filing an affidavit (Rule 7.210).

Finding the debtor's assets. If you ask, the judge must order the debtor to complete and serve a Fact Information Sheet (Form 7.343) within 45 days, and you can ask for this enforcement paragraph to be included in the final judgment (Rule 7.221(a)). If you are an individual who did not have a lawyer before judgment, you can ask for a hearing in aid of execution, where the debtor must appear, at least 45 days after judgment, to be examined under oath about earnings and assets (Rule 7.221(b)).

Collection tools:

• Garnishment and writs of execution, issued through the clerk and carried out by the sheriff ($40 per writ and $50 per levy).
• A lien on real estate. "A judgment, order, or decree becomes a lien on real property in any county when a certified copy of it is recorded in the official records or judgment lien record of the county" (s. 55.10, Fla. Stat.). The judgment must show your address, or you must record an affidavit with your address at the same time, or no lien is created (s. 55.10(1)). The lien lasts 10 years from recording and can be extended for another 10 years by re-recording with an affidavit, but never beyond 20 years from the date the judgment was entered (s. 55.081).
• A lien on personal property, created by filing a judgment lien certificate with the Florida Department of State (s. 55.202).

Some wages, benefits and property are protected from collection. Our Florida debt collection laws guide explains what a creditor can and cannot reach. Federal law also protects Social Security benefits from "execution, levy, attachment, garnishment, or other legal process" (42 U.S.C. 407(a)) and exempts VA benefits from creditors' claims (38 U.S.C. 5301(a)(1)).

Interest. Florida's post-judgment interest rate is set by the state's Chief Financial Officer each quarter. The rate in effect when you get the judgment is stated on its face and is adjusted every January 1 (s. 55.03). Check the Chief Financial Officer's current rate for the figure that applies to your judgment.

How long a judgment lasts. No judgment remains a lien after 20 years from entry (s. 55.081), and an action on a judgment of a Florida court of record must be started within 20 years (s. 95.11(1)).

The rules include a Satisfaction of Judgment form (Form 7.347) for when the debt is paid.

Federal rules that can affect your case

Military defendants. If the defendant does not appear, federal law requires the court, before entering judgment for the plaintiff, to have the plaintiff file an affidavit "stating whether or not the defendant is in military service" (50 U.S.C. 3931(b)(1)). The Department of Defense runs the official SCRA status website at scra.dmdc.osd.mil.

Suing the federal government. A claim for money damages against the United States for an injury caused by a federal employee is not a small claims case: federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over those claims (28 U.S.C. 1346(b)(1)), and the claim must first be presented in writing to the federal agency (28 U.S.C. 2675(a)).

Official Florida small claims resources

• Florida Small Claims Rules, July 1, 2026 compilation, with the official forms
• Section 34.041, Florida Statutes, the county court filing fee caps
• Your county clerk of court, for the local fee schedule, forms and filing options

Related

• Small claims court by state
• Florida statute of limitations
• Florida landlord-tenant laws
• Florida debt collection laws

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about small claims cases in Florida county courts under the Florida Small Claims Rules and the Florida Statutes, verified on 2026-10-06. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. For help with your specific situation, contact your county clerk of court or court self-help center, a legal aid office, or a lawyer licensed in Florida.

Last updated: 2026-10-06.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the small claims limit in Florida?

Small claims procedures apply to claims worth up to $8,000, not counting costs, interest and attorney's fees (Florida Small Claims Rule 7.010(b)). The limit has been $8,000 since January 1, 2020.

Can I sue for more than $8,000 in small claims in Florida?

Not under the Small Claims Rules. A claim over $8,000 up to $50,000 can still be filed in county court under the regular Florida Rules of Civil Procedure (s. 34.01), and larger claims go to circuit court.

How much does it cost to file a small claims case in Florida?

It depends on the county and the amount claimed. Section 34.041 caps the filing fee by tier, and one 2026 county clerk packet (Jackson County) charges $55, $80, $175 or $300, plus summons and service charges.

Do I need a lawyer for small claims court in Florida?

No. Rule 7.090(a) lets you appear personally or by counsel. A business can be represented at trial by a principal or a written-authorized employee, but a non-attorney cannot represent a business on appeal.

What happens at a Florida small claims pretrial conference?

Both sides must appear; the court looks at narrowing the issues, witnesses and settlement, and mediation may take place (Rule 7.090). If the case does not settle, trial is set within 60 days.

What if the defendant does not show up in Florida small claims court?

Under Rule 7.170, the plaintiff is entitled to a default entered by the judge or clerk, and the judge then takes evidence on damages.

How long do I have to appeal a Florida small claims judgment?

The notice of appeal must be filed with the clerk of the lower tribunal (the county court) within 30 days of rendition of the judgment (Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.110(b)). A motion for new trial is due within 15 days after the judgment is filed (Rule 7.180(a)).

How long does the defendant have to be served in a Florida small claims case?

Under Rule 7.070(b), as amended July 1, 2026, service must be made within 120 days after filing, and you can get another 120 days if you ask before the first period ends.