Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New Jersey
Recovering child care fees in small claims court.
Provided child care for family over a year.No signed contract-verbal agreement.Were to pay each week. 9/98 mother lost job. Owed $320. Paid me monthly in the past. Stated would pay in full middle of 10/98 but did not. Called several times and, if answered phone, gave some lame excuse. Other times left messages no return calls. Called the grandmother in 11/98 to get them to call me. Agreed to pay $50 every other till paid. Made couple payments & lapsed. Informed them in writing would begin add $5 late fee.Not received payment since 1/15/99. Reached them 2/99 & told would receive full payment 2/26/99. Didn't happen. Kept leaving messages (they have caller id)never replied. Reached them child answered. Heard parent say in background "Who is it" & checked caller id "Oh no, it's ______". Told money order "was in the mail".Left message couple days later no m.o. received. No return call. Sent grandmother letter-no response. Left messages at home-no return. Do I have a case in Small Claims Court? How does it work?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Recovering child care fees ...
Go to the county courthouse where the person who owes you money lives. Ask for the small claims office. Ask for a small claims form (they may be out). You will need BOTH of their full legal names (i.e. - 'William' not 'Billy') and a complete address. Fill in a description of your claim. Keep it short. Say you had a verbal contract to provide child care services. You provided those services as promised. You were owed $xxxx on [date], but only $xx was paid to you. The balance owed to you is $xxx.
Bring any records you have with you, particularly if you have a calender showing the dates and times worked. Any record of the money paid to you. Photocopies of payment-checks are good. If you have a good witness, bring them.
It will cost you $25 to file, plus $2 each (I think) to have them served. The clerks will want at least 3 copies (ASK them how many they want for 2 defendants). Fill in the form, photocopy it BEFORE signing it. Take it to the clerk. They may not take personal checks, so take cash or ASK first. Take an extra copy for yourself, ask the clerk to 'stamp it in' and return it to you.
You should get a notice from the court within 2 weeks.
Good luck.
Kevin Begley
Kevin J. Begley Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 332
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
