Small Claims Complaint - Preparation Worksheet - South Carolina

IMPORTANT: THIS IS A NON-FILING PREPARATION WORKSHEET

Do not file or serve this worksheet. Obtain the current South Carolina Judicial Branch
complaint form, Magistrates Court Rules, local instructions, fee information, and service
procedure before preparing an operative filing. A historical repository link for the
court's SCCA/701 form is sccourts.org;
confirm the current form and URL manually before use.

SMALL CLAIMS COMPLAINT TEMPLATE

(State of South Carolina – Magistrate’s Court)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Document Header
2. Definitions
3. Operative Allegations
4. Prayer for Relief
5. Procedure and Deadline Check
6. Verification Preparation
7. Service Routing Information

1. DOCUMENT HEADER

IN THE MAGISTRATE’S COURT OF THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
FOR THE COUNTY OF [COUNTY]

A. Recitals

1. This action arises from Defendant’s alleged failure to pay money owed and/or damage to Plaintiff’s property as further detailed below.
2. The amount in controversy is $[AMOUNT], which is within the statutory limit of the South Carolina Magistrate’s Court.

2. DEFINITIONS

For ease of reference in this Complaint, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:

“Agreement” – Any written or oral contract, invoice, lease, or other arrangement between Plaintiff and Defendant that gives rise to the monetary obligation described herein.

“Damages” – Each supported component of the amount sought, classified under current law before the jurisdictional total is calculated.

“Magistrate’s Court” – The South Carolina magistrates court identified after current subject-matter, territorial, venue, and filing review.

3. OPERATIVE ALLEGATIONS

3.1 Jurisdiction & Venue

a. Potential jurisdiction category under S.C. Code Ann. § 22-3-10: ☐ contract-money claim ☐ damages for injury to personal or property rights ☐ other category requiring separate authority: [________________________________].
b. Amount claimed, excluding any item only if current law permits exclusion: $[AMOUNT].
c. Current venue and territorial-jurisdiction authority: [citation, operative text, official URL, and checked date].
d. Facts supporting the selected court and county: [________________________________].

3.2 Parties

a. Plaintiff is [an individual / a corporation / an LLC] duly organized under the laws of [state] and authorized to bring this action.
b. Defendant is [an individual / a corporation / an LLC] that may be served at [physical address or registered agent].

3.3 Statement of Facts

1. On or about [DATE], Plaintiff and Defendant entered into the Agreement whereby [briefly describe transaction].
2. Defendant agreed to pay Plaintiff $[AMOUNT] on or before [DUE DATE].
3. Despite demand, Defendant has failed and refused to pay the outstanding balance of $[AMOUNT], which remains due and owing.
4. [If property damage] On or about [DATE], Defendant negligently damaged Plaintiff’s property located at [ADDRESS/LOCATION], causing loss valued at $[AMOUNT].
5. Any claim-specific pre-suit notice, demand, exhaustion, limitations, or condition issue and its current authority: [________________________________].

3.4 Cause(s) of Action

COUNT I – [Identify one supported cause of action and its elements]

Facts supporting each element: [________________________________]

COUNT II – [Optional separate supported cause of action]

Facts supporting each element: [________________________________]

3.5 Damages Sought

Plaintiff seeks monetary judgment against Defendant as follows:
a. Principal Amount: $[AMOUNT]
b. Prejudgment interest, only if supported for this claim: [amount, period, rate, and current authority];
c. Postjudgment interest, only as calculated under current governing law; and
d. Recoverable filing or service costs, supported by: [________________________________].

4. PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Requested amount and components to transfer to the current court form: [________________________________]. Confirm that the pleaded claim category and amount remain within current magistrates-court jurisdiction.

5. PROCEDURE AND DEADLINE CHECK

Do not rely on this worksheet for amendment, jury-demand, motion, hearing, trial, judgment, post-trial, or appeal procedure. Record the current controlling source before filing:

6. VERIFICATION PREPARATION

Do not sign or notarize this worksheet. Transfer only accurate allegations to the current court form and use its current signature, verification, and representative-capacity requirements.

Signer / capacity: [________________________________]

Personal-knowledge basis and supporting records: [________________________________]

Statements requiring qualification or information-and-belief treatment: [________________________________]

7. SERVICE ROUTING INFORMATION

Do not serve this worksheet or assume a service method. Complete the current court-issued process and service procedure.