Utah Small Claims Counterclaims: How to File One

Short answer: If you've been sued in Utah small claims court and believe the plaintiff actually owes you money related to the same dispute, you can file a counter-affidavit — Utah's small claims version of a counterclaim — raising your own claim within the same case, rather than filing an entirely separate lawsuit.

Who this guide is for

Anyone who's been served with a Utah small claims case and believes they have their own claim against the person suing them, arising from the same underlying dispute.

What a counterclaim actually is

A counterclaim (filed via a counter-affidavit in Utah small claims) lets a defendant assert their own claim for money against the plaintiff, resolved together with the plaintiff's original claim in one hearing — rather than requiring two separate lawsuits over what's really one connected dispute.

The "same dispute" requirement

A small claims counterclaim generally needs to be related to the same transaction or occurrence as the plaintiff's original claim — not an entirely unrelated grievance you happen to have against the same person. For example, if a landlord sues a former tenant for property damage, the tenant raising a counterclaim for an improperly withheld security deposit from that same tenancy fits naturally; an unrelated dispute from a completely different transaction generally doesn't belong in the same case.

How to file a counter-affidavit

1. Complete the counter-affidavit — available through the same MyPaperwork tool used for the original small claims process, or through your specific court.
2. Pay the applicable fee — counter-affidavit fees are tiered separately from the plaintiff's filing fee based on the counterclaim amount. See Utah Small Claims Filing Fees for the current tiers.
3. File it with the same court handling the original case.
4. Serve the plaintiff with the counter-affidavit, following the same general service principles as the original case.

What happens at the hearing

Both claims — the original claim and the counterclaim — are generally heard together at the same hearing, with the judge deciding both. This means preparing evidence for your counterclaim just as thoroughly as you'd prepare to defend against the original claim — see What Evidence You Need for a Utah Small Claims Case.

What if your counterclaim exceeds the small claims limit?

If your counterclaim amount, on its own, would exceed Utah's small claims jurisdictional cap, this can complicate whether it can proceed as part of the small claims case — worth clarifying with the court or an attorney if your counterclaim is a large amount.

Why filing a counterclaim (rather than a separate lawsuit) usually makes sense

Raising a related claim as a counterclaim in the existing case is generally more efficient than filing a brand-new, separate small claims case — it avoids duplicate filing fees, duplicate court appearances, and the risk of inconsistent results between two related cases heard separately.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a deadline to file a counter-affidavit? Yes — this is generally tied to your response deadline in the original case; don't wait until the hearing to raise a counterclaim you should have filed beforehand.

What if I don't file a counterclaim — can I still bring it up at the hearing? Generally, a counterclaim needs to be properly filed (not just mentioned informally at the hearing) to be considered as its own claim for relief — raise it through the proper counter-affidavit process rather than assuming you can introduce it verbally on the day of the hearing.

Can the plaintiff respond to my counterclaim? Yes — the plaintiff generally has the opportunity to address the counterclaim just as you had the opportunity to respond to their original claim, since both are being resolved together.