Does a handwritten receipt have legal force

Various unforeseen situations can happen in life. If your friend, acquaintance or relative needs financial help, you can draw up a receipt, which will then become your reliable guarantor for the return of funds. But it is important not to miss the fact that such a document will help to recover money from the debtor, as well as act as irrefutable evidence during more serious proceedings, if you follow a few simple rules.

This article will tell you about the principles of drawing up such papers, as well as whether the receipt has legal force in court, and how to draw it up correctly in order to be 100% confident in your security.

What is a receipt: understanding the concept

The document in question is evidence that speaks of the interaction of several persons. Their activities can be limited to working in various fields. There are several types of receipts.

Among them:

A drafted agreement confirming the payment of child support to the parent with whom the minor child remains after the divorce process.
The most common type of receipt is a promissory note. It indicates that the lender has transferred a certain amount and has the right to return it within a pre-agreed period.
In cases where the borrower receives important documents at his disposal for some time, the return of securities takes place.
Sometimes an act is also drawn up stating that the person who suffered physical or moral damage has no claims against the accused.

Once the paper is written, it remains with the lender until the funds are returned.

Is a receipt a legal document: clarifying a serious issue

According to the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, written evidence can be various documents, acts, contracts, materials that are directly related to the case. It can be presented not only in handwritten form, but also in digital form.

Is a receipt considered evidence in court? It represents an obligation to return what was given, therefore during the proceedings they are obliged to consider it as evidence.

Documents must be brought to court in original or notarized copies. The original may also be required if the copies provided by the debtor and the creditor differ in content.

Just in case, it will always be appropriate to have the document notarized, especially if the amount in question is quite large. Answering the question whether a receipt that is not certified by a notary is a document, we can confidently say in the affirmative.

What legal force does a handwritten receipt have?

The norms of Russian legislation do not imply that the receipt must necessarily be printed - it can be made in any form.

Moreover, a handwritten receipt is easier to identify by handwriting, making it even better than a printed one.

If the situation has reached court proceedings (alimony is not paid, claims are made, documents or money are not returned, and so on), and the author of the receipt refuses his obligations, the receipt will become excellent evidence in court.

The witnesses in whose presence the receipt was drawn up will also be very helpful here.

Drawing up a legally binding receipt

To be sure that the debt will be repaid to you, you need to draw up the paperwork correctly. Therefore, it is important to be guided by the basic rules under which the legal force of the document in receiving money will work. The following should be kept in mind:

The text must be drawn up (if written by hand) by the person receiving the borrowed funds or securities. Make sure your handwriting is clear. Then in court you can easily prove the borrower’s involvement in this document when you conduct an examination.

It is imperative to indicate the real names of the persons drawing up this document. Otherwise, if the names are not indicated in full or if nicknames and nicknames are written instead, in this version the receipt is not a legal document

Which receipt will be valid without the borrower’s passport data? That's right, none. He is obliged to indicate them in order to avoid confusion with names - a full namesake may appear. The person lending money does not have to write the series and passport number. It is important that the future debtor does this exactly.

Just in case, to make the search for the borrower easier, you must indicate the address of actual residence and passport registration. Both sides are possible.

All conditions for repaying the loan must be agreed upon in advance and specified in this document. Otherwise they will not be valid in court. Also, one of the mandatory items is to indicate the date of repayment of the debt.

To avoid ambiguous reading of points, express yourself clearly and clearly. If the case goes to trial, this will be a significant advantage.

After signing the document, check your passport - in court, the debtor may refer to an allegedly forged signature as evidence of his innocence.

Does the notary certify the receipt of money? Not necessary. This is optional.

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Only a correctly drawn up receipt can guarantee the return of money to the creditor, even if you have to contact law enforcement agencies.

Does it have legal force?

According to the legislation of the Russian Federation (Article 808 of the Civil Code), the receipt indeed has full legal force, since it confirms the fact that a certain amount of money has been provided to the borrower. The court accepts such written confirmation as evidence of the transfer of money.

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However, the security will have full legal force only if it contains complete, reliable passport data of the parties and their signatures, the amount of the debt, and the timing of its repayment. All other provisions may be specified as desired.

Do I need to have the receipt certified by a notary?

Based on the participation of notarial authorities in a transaction, the following are distinguished:

certified record;

executed without the participation of a notary.

The first option does not raise any doubts - this document will definitely be evidence in court. What about the second one? The law can come to the protection of the creditor; he is obliged to consider such papers, but there are also “pitfalls” in this case.

Having learned about this, the debtor's lawyer can refer to this fact. Then, to confirm the authenticity of this document, you will have to conduct a handwriting examination, which will assure the court that you are right. Remember: a notarized contract is your peace of mind.

Do I need to certify the receipt? This question can be answered completely in the affirmative when it comes to a large amount of money. This way you will definitely protect yourself from unnecessary expenses.

Do I need to notarize the receipt?

Not necessary, but possible.

Here are the benefits of notarization:

The notary can check the legality of the transaction as such
Notarization more easily confirms the identity of the person who wrote the receipt.
A receipt with notarization is more likely to be accepted by the court as evidence

But the services of a notary cost money, so they are not used so often.

I think in this case you need to focus on the seriousness of the transaction. If we are talking about a relatively large amount of money or important documents, certification is required. Otherwise, as desired.

Handwritten receipt: does it have legal force?

There are different circumstances in life, and therefore the paper cannot always be printed on a printer; most often it is compiled in the old fashioned way - blue ballpoint paper on a landscape sheet of paper. Is such an agreement a legal document?

Our law is not required to draw up such transactions in digital form and print them, and therefore you can absolutely calmly discuss the terms and write them down by hand.

Well, when the matter comes to court (if the debtor refuses to repay the loan or disappears without a trace on the day the funds are returned), then this paper can help you out. The examination will not be able to establish the authenticity of the handwriting if the document was printed.

Many notaries advise writing these types of documents by hand so that there are no difficulties later. Remember that handwriting can be important evidence in court proceedings.

It is best to write papers with a blue ballpoint pen. A contract containing terms written by other accessories may become invalid due to deterioration of the material or darkening of the ink.

Does a receipt that is not certified by a notary have legal force?

It does if it is compiled correctly. And it does not if the amount of debt exceeds ten times the minimum wage. With this everything is more or less clear. A large amount of money must be transferred on a receipt, which must be notarized. Otherwise, if a problem of non-payment of debt arises, it will not even be considered

there will be no trial. Now is the time to figure out what a correctly executed receipt means:

The promissory note is drawn up in two copies, not carbon copies, but both handwritten by the person taking the loan. This is done with the aim of conducting a graphological examination later in court.
Each participant takes a copy for himself so that in the future it is impossible to correct or falsify anything in the debtor’s receipt. Thus, the debtor and the lender have the originals of the promissory note in their hands.
It is mandatory to indicate the passport details of the parties, namely:

surname, name, patronymic of the debtor and creditor;
numbers and series of passports, when and by whom they were issued, as well as where they are registered.

The amount is indicated in numbers and words.
It is necessary to indicate for what purposes the money is taken.
The interest for using the loan must be indicated, otherwise, upon collection, the loan will be considered interest-free.
The loan repayment period and the percentage of penalties for each overdue day are also indicated.
It is advisable to obtain two witnesses indicating their passport details and residential addresses.
Both copies of the receipt are signed by:

creditor and debtor - signature, surname and initials in their own hand;
both witnesses certify the receipt in the same manner.

There is one more nuance that should be taken into account when drawing up a receipt. If a receipt is drawn up, then the possibility of non-payment of the debt is considered, in which case it is better to indicate some thing or real estate belonging to the debtor and equal in value to the amount of money borrowed as collateral. If it is impossible to pay the debt on time, this thing or property becomes the property of the creditor.

What receipts need to be notarized?

You are probably wondering whether the receipt can be certified by a notary. Of course, it is not only possible, but sometimes necessary. This is a fairly quickly compiled paper due to the simplicity of its components. It doesn’t take much time to create it, and, as we found out, you don’t have to save money for a notary.

Having considered the issue of the legal validity of a handwritten receipt, we came to the conclusion that such a case can be taken into account by the judge. Now let us turn to the options when such an agreement would be appropriate and legal. Please note that many documents require notarization. Therefore, when dealing with a document in which the debtor undertakes to return the money or securities used within a specified period, you need to know exactly in which case it is better to play it safe and still use the services of a notary.

If you lend, be sure to record it on paper. It is worth notarizing in the case when the amount (if it is money) is more than 10 minimum wages. Keep in mind that this will increase the likelihood of repayment of the loan: the agreement will acquire an official character in the eyes of the parties thanks to the participation of notarial authorities.

One of the cases will be a receipt stating that the creditor has handed over his money. When drawing up such a document, it is important to adhere to the rules and principles that we referred to above.

If, when drawing up an agreement, some necessary conditions that are serious for both parties are stipulated, then the importance of notarization increases significantly.

You should also count on the protection of your rights in the case when documentation is drawn up when renting an apartment, house or living space - this way you can protect yourself from people renting out this housing who have far from good intentions. You can write a document about the transfer of collateral and have it notarized, it won’t be superfluous.

How to properly write a receipt for the court

The main thing when drawing up a receipt is the correct sequence of actions and attentiveness. As evidence, the court will only accept a well-written form containing all the required data. It is important to remember that the text of the document must be handwritten by the borrower of the funds in the presence of the other party. But which aspects should you pay special attention to?

Title of the document - receipt

The first and key step of competent document preparation. You must specify the title of the document.

Passport details

The information of both parties is required: full name, series and number, place of registration, by whom and when the passport was issued. The parties also need to sign, as in a passport.

Loan amount

Without this information, a document confirming the transfer of funds will be invalid. The parties must indicate in numbers or in words the amount of funds transferred and the currency in which the money is transferred. If there are witnesses, the amount of borrowed funds is announced in front of them.

Compilation date and payment terms

This item is one of the mandatory ones. The parties must discuss and fix the terms within which the borrower is obliged to repay the debt amount, starting from the day the agreement on the transfer of funds is concluded. If a person does not repay the money on time, the lender has the right to demand interest payments for each day of delay.

Writing the second copy

Both parties must have identical copies of the receipt. This measure excludes the possibility of one of the parties introducing provisions beneficial to it into the text. Each of the two documents is confirmed by the presence of signatures.

Purpose of transfer of funds

It would be a good idea to indicate the specific purpose for which the person is taking the funds. This paragraph is intended to eliminate the possibility of fraud. Sometimes unscrupulous borrowers try to present the situation as an act of donation or repayment of debt.

Other provisions

Other optional items include:

Details and signatures of witnesses (if any);
Information about the interest rate (if the loan is given at interest);
Information about the guarantor (if any);
Information confirming the fact that the borrower understands all the legal consequences of his actions related to the receipt.

All information that is not mandatory must be discussed.

Sequence of drawing up a receipt

Write the name (receipt).
Enter the passport details of the parties, the amount of money, loan terms, and repayment terms.
Indicate the date the document was drawn up and sign it.

There are no specific requirements for the structure of the receipt, but the sequence of recording data will help not to miss important information. You should also describe the terms of the contract in as much detail as possible.

Do I need to issue a receipt in the presence of a notary?

The provisions and articles of the law indicate that there may not be an urgent need to answer this question. However, if the papers were drawn up in the presence of a figure in the legislative system, then the document has its undoubted advantages.

It is the notary who can accurately tell you about the legality of the action you are performing and whether the receipt is valid.

An employee of a notary's office in court can act as a witness and point out the act of transferring funds to the debtor, since he is the person directly present during the execution of the papers.

Keep in mind that the debtor cannot refuse to repay the loan - this is an official document that imposes such an obligation on him.

Interesting to know

It is not necessary to notarize the receipt, but this procedure has its benefits.

You need to understand that it is worth spending money on notary services if you want to protect yourself and if you are not very confident in the debtor. Yes, these are additional expenses, but you will worry much less.

It is also possible that the original of the drawn up contract may be lost. Therefore, just in case, it is worth having several copies certified by a notary. Otherwise, you will either have to restore the original or prove that uncertified copies are valid.

How to draw up a receipt without notarization

Article 163 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation describes exactly what transactions are certified by a notary[/caption]
we see that transactions are subject to mandatory certification in the following cases:

if provided by law;
if the parties have expressed such an intention.

Important. The law does not provide for the requirement that a receipt for receipt of money must be certified by a notary.

Legally competent certification occurs according to the following algorithm:

the transaction is confirmed by the signature of a notary when drawing up the loan agreement.
An attachment to the agreement is a promissory note confirming the fact of transfer of money from one person to another.
An integral part of the set of documents is the agreement + receipt. It is in this form that the transaction is certified.

Considering that readers are interested in the legality of drawing up a receipt without a notary, which will have legal force, let’s consider how to draw it up correctly.