Template for a loan between friends?

maggiesoup

My son and his gf split up (fairly amicably) a couple of months ago however she owes him around £20,000.  He feels confident she will pay him back in the next couple of months (bank loan or loan from her parents) but I feel it would be a good idea to put something in writing, dated & signed, ie some form of guarantee.  Is there a template I could send to him for this purpose?  Anything else he should consider. Thought about going to a lawyer (Scotland) but I used to be a typist in one of their offices many years ago and thought they charged far too much for the simplest of tasks.  Thanks.

CliveOfIndia

You can put together any agreement you like.  All it needs to say, essentially, is that A will pay B the sum of £x by <date>.  Or by agreed instalments, if that's what they'd prefer.

The problem is, it will have no legal standing, and if she doesn't repay then he'll have no choice but to take her to court (probably not what either of them wants if they're still on amicable terms).  And even if it did go to court, if she has no money then the court can't make her pay what she doesn't have.

It's probably pertinent to ask why she owes him the money.  If it's just some money he gave/lent her to help her out, then he'll have the devil's own job to force her to repay if she can't or won't.  But if it's because they bought something jointly, and there's a contract to state the details, then he'll be on a slightly firmer footing.

maggiesoup

Thanks for swift reply.  It's complicated as they owned two properties and this is the difference left between what they both put in initially, along with the joint car they had and a few other items of furniture.  Too messy to put it all down on paper so I think we'll just have to hope they stay friends and she'll get the funds over to him as promised. Better to have something simple in writing, if only to put a little pressure on her that she's signed something?

maggiesoup

Have found one online which will suffice.  Thanks.

R_P_W

Hopefully they both learn a valuable lesson in not to combine finances or to jointly own property together without getting this sorted out by a solicitor BEFORE they did it.

Like others have said, I'm not sure any agreement will be enforceable but at this point I'd advise her not to sign anything - why would she? what has she to gain?

Your son may have to prepare himself that he might never seen that £20k again.