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Guides, tips, and state-specific information about promissory notes and lending transactions.
My Friend Owes Me Money and Won't Pay: Can a Promissory Note Still Help?
The money is already gone. The agreement was verbal, or maybe there were a few texts about it, but nothing was ever signed. Now your friend isn't paying, isn't responding, or is actively denying the loan existed. You're wondering whether a promissory note can still do anything for you at this point, or whether the window for documentation closed the moment the money left your account...
James Stackpoole · May 15, 2026 at 5:32 PM ET 
Can I Write My Own Promissory Note or Do I Need a Lawyer?
You need a promissory note and you're wondering whether to spend $300 on an attorney or just write the thing yourself. It's a reasonable question, and the honest answer is that for most personal and family loans, you don't need a lawyer. But "you don't need a lawyer" and "you can write whatever you want" are not the same thing, and the gap between them is where most self-drafted notes fall apart...
Sarah Mccullen · May 14, 2026 at 1:09 PM ET 
How to Write a Promissory Note for a $10,000 Family Loan
Ten thousand dollars is the number where family loans stop feeling casual. It's enough money to matter significantly if it doesn't come back, enough to create real tension at family gatherings, and exactly the threshold where the IRS starts paying attention to how the loan is structured. It's also, in most families, the amount where someone finally thinks about putting it in writing...
Sarah Mccullen · May 13, 2026 at 3:20 PM ET 
How Unpaid Family Loans Affect What You Inherit
Your parent lent $45,000 to your brother eight years ago. Your brother never paid it back. Your parent just died. Now you're sitting across from an estate attorney trying to understand why your inheritance share looks the way it does, and whether that $45,000 is simply gone or whether it affects what your brother receives from the estate...
James Stackpoole · May 12, 2026 at 12:19 PM ET 
What Happens to an Unpaid Promissory Note When Someone Dies?
Here is what actually happens to an unpaid promissory note when someone dies, from both sides of the obligation...
Sarah Mccullen · May 11, 2026 at 12:29 PM ET 
What To Do If You Lost Your Promissory Note
You need the note and it's gone. Maybe it was lost in a move, destroyed in a flood, or simply buried somewhere in a decade's worth of paperwork you haven't touched since the loan was made. Whatever happened to it, you're now in a situation where a document that was supposed to protect you has disappeared, and you're trying to figure out what that actually means for your ability to collect or confirm the debt is settled. Losing a promissory note is a real problem. It's not an insurmountable one...
James Stackpoole · May 8, 2026 at 2:45 PM ET 
What to Do When a Lender Keeps Pressuring You to Pay
The calls keep coming. The messages are getting more aggressive. Maybe it's a family member who lent you money, a former business partner, or a private individual you borrowed from months ago. Whatever the source, the pressure is real and it's affecting your daily life. You want to know what you're actually obligated to do, what they're allowed to do, and where the line is between legitimate collection and harassment...
Sarah Mccullen · May 7, 2026 at 12:42 PM ET 
How a Promissory Note Protects You When You Lend to Family
Lending money to a family member feels different from any other financial transaction. The person asking is someone you love, the situation usually feels urgent, and saying yes feels like the right thing to do. The paperwork feels like an insult...
Sarah Mccullen · May 5, 2026 at 2:15 PM ET 
How a Promissory Note Protects You From a Bad Business Partner
Business partnerships go sideways more often than people expect. What starts as a shared vision and mutual trust can deteriorate into disputes about money, responsibilities, and who owes what to whom. When one partner has lent money to the other or to the business, and the repayment stops, the question of whether you documented that loan suddenly becomes the most important financial question you face...
James Stackpoole · May 4, 2026 at 4:23 PM ET 
What Happens If You Default on a Promissory Note?
Here is what actually happens when a promissory note goes into default, from the first missed payment to the last possible consequence...
Sarah Mccullen · May 3, 2026 at 3:35 PM ET 
How Long Do You Have to Sue Over an Unpaid Promissory Note in California?
You lent money, the borrower stopped paying, and now you are trying to figure out how much time you actually have before your legal options disappear. In California, the answer is four years for most written promissory notes, but that straightforward number comes with enough nuance to make it worth understanding fully before you decide how long you can wait...
Sarah Mccullen · May 2, 2026 at 1:52 PM ET 
Promissory Notes Between Business Partners: What to Include
Most business partnerships start with enthusiasm and goodwill. The legal paperwork feels like a formality, and asking a partner to sign a promissory note before money changes hands can feel like signaling distrust before the business has even gotten off the ground. That instinct is understandable and consistently expensive for the people who follow it...
James Stackpoole · May 1, 2026 at 2:55 PM ET 
How to Write a Promissory Note for Your Friend
Lending money to a friend is one of those situations that feels straightforward until it is not. The amount seems manageable, the friend seems reliable, and asking for paperwork feels like an overreaction. Then the repayment date passes, the conversations get awkward, and you find yourself wishing you had done one simple thing before the money left your account...
Sarah Mccullen · April 30, 2026 at 3:34 PM ET 
Can You Go to Jail for Not Paying a Promissory Note?
It is one of the first things people search when a debt gets serious and the pressure starts building. Maybe a lender has been sending threatening messages, or someone mentioned legal consequences, or you are simply worried about what happens if the balance keeps going unpaid. The question feels urgent: can failing to repay a promissory note actually land you in jail?
Sarah Mccullen · April 29, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET 
How to Write a Promissory Note for a Business Loan
Business loans between private parties happen more often than people think. A friend invests in your startup. A family member bridges a cash flow gap. A business partner covers payroll during a slow month with the understanding that the company will pay them back. These arrangements are real loans with real stakes, and the document you use to formalize them matters significantly more than it would for a personal loan between individuals...
James Stackpoole · April 28, 2026 at 4:25 PM ET 
The Mistakes People Make When Writing Their Own Promissory Note
These are the mistakes that show up most often in self-drafted promissory notes, and what each one costs you when things go wrong...
Sarah Mccullen · April 27, 2026 at 4:33 PM ET 
Demand Promissory Notes: More Flexible, More Risk, and When to Use One
Most promissory notes work on a fixed schedule. The borrower owes a set amount, payments come due on predictable dates, and both parties know exactly when the loan will be retired. A demand promissory note works differently. There is no fixed repayment schedule. The lender can call the full balance due at any time, and the borrower is obligated to pay when that demand is made...
James Stackpoole · April 26, 2026 at 5:14 PM ET 
Unsecured Promissory Notes: What Lenders Give Up and How to Protect Themselves
When you lend money without requiring collateral, you are making a bet on a person rather than a position. There is no car to repossess, no property to lien, no asset waiting in the background if the borrower stops paying. What you have is a signed promise and, if the note is properly drafted, the legal standing to pursue that promise through the courts...
Sarah Mccullen · April 25, 2026 at 12:58 PM ET 
How Much Will That Loan Actually Cost? Use a Payoff Calculator First
A loan payoff calculator shows you the full picture before you commit to anything, and it takes about thirty seconds to use...
Sarah Mccullen · April 24, 2026 at 3:26 PM ET 
What to Do the Moment a Friend Says "Don't Worry, I'll Pay You Back"
It happens fast. A friend needs money, the situation feels urgent, and before you have had time to think it through you hear the words that have preceded countless lost friendships and unrecovered loans: "Don't worry, I'll pay you back." Maybe you have already said yes. Here is exactly what to do in that moment, and why doing it right protects both the money and the friendship...
James Stackpoole · April 23, 2026 at 3:43 PM ET 
Why "We're Family, We Don't Need Paperwork" Is a Red Flag
You have heard some version of it. Maybe it was softer, maybe it was more direct, but the message was the same: we are close enough that a piece of paper is an insult. We trust each other. Loans between family do not need contracts. Only strangers need documentation...
Sarah Mccullen · April 22, 2026 at 6:08 PM ET 
Your Options When a Family Member Doesn't Pay Back a Loan
Lending money to a family member is one of the more emotionally complicated financial decisions a person can make. You wanted to help. You probably did not expect to end up here. But the loan is outstanding, payments have stopped or never started, and you are now trying to figure out how to recover what you are owed without blowing up a relationship or spending the next decade in resentment. Your options depend heavily on whether you have documentation, how much is owed, and how much of the relationship you want to preserve. Here is an honest look at all of them...
James Stackpoole · April 21, 2026 at 12:46 PM ET 
How to Document a Personal Loan to a Friend the Right Way
Documenting a personal loan to a friend is not complicated. Here is how to do it without making it weird and without leaving yourself unprotected...
Sarah Mccullen · April 20, 2026 at 4:14 PM ET 
What a Promissory Note Actually Does for You in Court
You have a signed promissory note and a borrower who stopped paying. You are thinking about taking legal action and wondering whether the document in your hand is actually going to do anything useful once you get in front of a judge. The answer depends on what the note contains and how you present it, but a well-drafted promissory note is one of the strongest pieces of evidence you can bring to a debt dispute. Here is exactly what a promissory note does for you in a courtroom...
Sarah Mccullen · April 19, 2026 at 3:21 PM ET 
How to Record Payments on a Promissory Note
Here is how to track payments on a promissory note properly from the first installment to the last...
James Stackpoole · April 17, 2026 at 3:21 PM ET 
Is a Handwritten Promissory Note Legal in California?
Somewhere between the formal legal document and a casual IOU sits the handwritten promissory note. Maybe you did not have access to a printer, maybe the loan happened quickly, or maybe you just grabbed a piece of paper and wrote out the terms. Now you are wondering whether what you wrote actually holds up under California law...
Sarah Mccullen · April 16, 2026 at 5:28 PM ET 
What Happens If You Lend Money Without a Promissory Note?
Here is what actually happens when you lend money without a promissory note, at every stage of the process...
James Stackpoole · April 15, 2026 at 2:51 PM ET 
How to Properly Loan Money to Your Child for a House Down Payment
Helping your child buy a home is one of the more meaningful financial gifts a parent can give. But when the help comes in the form of a loan rather than a gift, the way you document it matters more than most families realize. A handshake arrangement between parents and children sounds fine until a divorce, a bankruptcy, a sibling dispute, or a mortgage application reveals exactly how much trouble an undocumented family loan can create...
Sarah Mccullen · April 14, 2026 at 2:07 PM ET 
What to Include in a Promissory Note for a Personal Loan
Here is exactly what a promissory note for a personal loan needs to include, and why each piece matters...
Sarah Mccullen · April 13, 2026 at 1:30 PM ET 
What to Do If You Inherit a Promissory Note
Here is what you need to know if you find yourself on the receiving end of an inherited promissory note...
James Stackpoole · April 12, 2026 at 2:29 PM ET