The great majority of loans between relatives and friends can be papered without professional help; a minority genuinely can’t. Seven quick questions sort yours into one of three honest buckets: handle it yourself, get one point checked, or take advice before anything is signed.
Two individuals on good terms, no security taken, both within England and Wales — the classic case. People in this position routinely write the terms up themselves and sign a clear agreement without ever billing an hour.
Fundamentally simple, but with a single wrinkle — a guarantor, a chunkier sum, or someone outside England and Wales. Draft the agreement, then pay for a short review of that one point before signatures go on.
A charge over property, a company on the borrowing side, inheritance-tax planning, a separation in the background, money crossing borders, or a dispute already brewing. Situations like these call for proper advice up front — a solicitor on the law, an accountant on the tax — before anyone signs anything.
LendRight exists for the ordinary case — two people who trust each other, writing down a simple loan so the trust survives repayment. But some situations are complex in ways no template can absorb: security over a home, a company borrower, tax structuring, an estate, a marriage under strain. In those cases the truthful position is that paperwork alone won’t protect anyone, and a tool that pretended otherwise would be selling you short. So when an answer raises a flag, this check sends you to the right professional instead of nodding you through.
If your loan turns out to be the straightforward kind, start with our step-by-step guide to writing a family loan agreement. And where a house deposit is involved, run the gift-or-loan tool first — whether the money is a present or a debt changes the mortgage paperwork, the tax picture, and what happens if the couple later splits.
Published by: RULE8 Inc., the company behind LendRight.
Reviewed for the UK edition: 5 July 2026, LendRight Editorial Team.
Sources: Limitation Act 1980 s.5 (six-year limitation for simple contracts); Consumer Credit Act 1974 ss.140A–C (unfair relationships); Electronic Communications Act 2000 and the Law Commission’s 2019 report on electronic execution; HMRC guidance on savings income.
What this is: a self-serve documentation tool for everyday personal lending between individuals in England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland aren’t covered yet). Nothing here is legal or tax advice and no solicitor–client relationship arises. Anything secured, commercial, contested, or tangled up with a separation or an estate belongs with a solicitor.
On e-signing: for a simple contract like this, an electronic signature is as good as ink in England and Wales — the Electronic Communications Act 2000 says so, and the Law Commission confirmed it in 2019. LendRight locks each signed agreement into a sealed PDF whose certificate records the signers, the timestamps, and a fingerprint of the exact bytes. Strong evidence, always — though whether any contract holds up ultimately turns on the facts behind it.
This tool gives general information to help you think it through — it isn’t legal, tax, or financial advice, and using it doesn’t create a lawyer–client relationship. For your specific situation, a qualified professional (a solicitor, or an accountant for tax) is the right call.