Recoup losses after non-marital breakup

Residence: Illinois

A live-in girlfriend took me for a ride this year. We began to combine assets and debts with an eye towards marriage (or so I thought).

We had talked about me paying off her credit cards since I was making her payments anyway and they were the highest intereste rate expense we had. I never specifically authorized this transaction, but had authorized previous monthly payments.

I voluntarily paid her tuition for the semester.

I came home and found she had moved out. All of her stuff was gone, in addition to items she had given me as gifts and items we had bought together. That day I also discovered she had, several days before, made a payment to her credit card company, through her account on their website. She completely paid off her cards. The day she left was the day the payment cleared.

Point of clarification: the payment to her cards originated from her account (online with card issuing banks. Technically, I never authorized the transfer with my bank).

After she left I discovered several hundred dollars more in charges on my credit card at local stores.

Can I sue to recoup these losses? My thought would be if she saw fit to take back items she gave me during the relationship, I should be entitled to the money I gave her.

I would prfer small claims court since I do not want to actually press any charges. Total amount due to me would be $4000 to $5000.

It was your decision to pay off her credit cards and her tuition. Did you have anything in writing obligating her to pay you back for either? If she took back her gifts to you, she can claim, unless you have proof otherwise, that paying off the cards and paying for her tuition were gifts.

You can try and sue her in small claims for the value of the items you bought together. Do you have proof of what you spent on said items?

Did you call the credit card company once you discovered she'd left?