Tips
9 articles in this category
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...
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...
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...
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?
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...
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...
Who Does a Promissory Note Actually Protect?
If you have ever been handed a promissory note to sign, your first instinct was probably that this document exists to protect the other person. The lender wants proof you owe them money. The paperwork is for their benefit. You are just signing something they need...
How a Promissory Note Protects You When a Borrower Defaults
You did something generous. You lent money to someone who needed it, put the terms in writing, and got a signature. Now they are not paying, not returning calls, and the repayment date has come and gone. It is a frustrating situation, but it is one where having a signed promissory note makes an enormous difference in what options you have available...
Promissory Notes and Taxes: What Lenders and Borrowers Need to Know
Most people think of promissory notes as a borrowing and lending tool, which they are. But what often gets overlooked is the tax side of the equation. Whether you are the one handing over money or the one receiving it, a promissory note can have real implications come tax time. Ignoring those implications does not make them go away...