Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Collecting on a Loan Obligation in Court

Unless you have legal training or litigation experience, you need to hire a lawyer to sue the debtor who owes you money. The lawyer will generally first attempt out of court collection, but if that fails, you will probably want the lawyer to sue. Depending upon the amount owed, the case will go to either large claims or small claims court. Small claims court does have standard complaint forms which are set up for plaintiffs to fill out on their own. However, this is likely to be a frustrating and potentially unsuccessful process for you if you lack legal knowledge. There are many technicalities which can cause your efforts to fail after filling out the initial forms, such as technical requirements for service of the paperwork, etc. You should therefore at least consult with a lawyer before attempting this on your own. Finally, even if yu win in court, there is no guarantee that you will ever see your money. All the court judgments in the world will not add money to the account of the person who owes it to you--you can only collect it if they have sufficient money, wages which exceed their family support needs or other non-exempt assets. Good luck!