Family tuition help usually spans four years and a dozen e-transfers — a shape that memory handles terribly. A family student loan agreement with a written deferral turns the blur into one clear obligation that starts when the degree does its job.
University financial-aid offices can’t paper the family side; a lawyer would charge $450+ to. This does it for $29, and drafting is free.
Decide the total, or the per-year amount, before the first tuition instalment. “We’ll cover what you need” is generous and unaccountable in equal measure — four years later, neither side can say what was lent. A stated figure (“up to $12,000 a year for four years, advanced each September and January”) keeps the help countable without making it cold.
The agreement’s deferral clause does the quiet work: no payments while enrolled, interest at zero (or accruing at a stated rate, if you choose), each advance dated. The student focuses on the degree; the ledger keeps itself. If circumstances change — a dropped semester, a co-op year with income — the schedule can be amended in writing rather than renegotiated from memory.
This is where undocumented tuition help goes wrong — not in bad faith, but in mismatch. The parent assumed repayment would start with the first job; the graduate assumed it was mostly a gift. A written start date (“six months after graduation”) and a modest schedule (“$250 a month”) means the first paycheque arrives with no surprises attached. And if you later decide to forgive some or all of it — a graduation gift with real weight — forgiving a documented loan is a deliberate act of generosity rather than a default nobody mentions.
Drafting is free; one $29 fee at signing (the borrower’s by default, switchable) seals the PDF with both e-signatures and a verification certificate.
Deferral written in, repayment mapped, both signatures on file.
Create my loan agreement →Yes — that's the natural design, and the agreement should say it explicitly: no payments during enrolment, a defined start (say, six months after graduation or leaving studies), then a fixed schedule. Writing the deferral down is what makes the generosity unambiguous and the obligation real.
Not yet, in any province. Ages of majority are 18 or 19 depending on where you are, and a minor's contract may not bind them. Either wait for the birthday, or structure the first year differently with advice — the builder checks ages against the governing province.
Most families lend the gap — what tuition and living costs exceed government student aid, which usually carries better terms than any private arrangement. A family loan agreement can cover each year's top-up as a stated total or as scheduled advances.
Almost always zero, and that's fine legally. If you want a token rate to signal seriousness, the CRA prescribed rate (3% for 2026) is the conventional pick; the federal cap of 35% APR is the outer legal boundary.
Operator: RULE8 Inc. — Lend Right is a RULE8 Inc. product. Page reviewed July 3, 2026, Lend Right Editorial Team.
Legal footing: provincial ages of majority (18 or 19 — the builder checks); provincial limitation and electronic-commerce statutes; Criminal Code s. 347 (35% APR ceiling); CRA prescribed rate, 3% for 2026.
Limits: document automation with general information — not legal, tax, or financial-aid advice; no lawyer-client relationship; Quebec not yet supported. Government student aid has its own rules and usually better terms — compare before lending.
Signatures: e-signing binds ordinary contracts in supported provinces; the sealed PDF’s certificate records signers and timestamps. Evidence is the document’s job — the facts decide outcomes.
Lend Right provides self-help document automation, not legal advice, and no lawyer-client relationship is created. For complex situations, consult a licensed lawyer in your province.