Promissory Note (Pagaré) in Guatemala 2026: What Makes It Enforceable + Free Template

Quick summary: A pagaré is Guatemala’s promissory note, a título de crédito under the Código de Comercio (Decreto 2-70). It works only if it carries the general requirements of Art. 386 plus the two of Art. 490: an unconditional promise to pay a set sum of money and the name of the payee. A valid note is collected through the executive procedure without first proving the signature (Art. 630), no protest is needed unless the note says con protesto (Arts. 469 and 493), and the direct action prescribes in 3 years from the due date (Art. 626). Free Spanish template below.

Checked on 24 September 2026 against the Código de Comercio published by the Archivo General de Protocolos of the Organismo Judicial (Arts. 385-410, 443, 469, 490-493, 615-630).

Who this page is for

You are lending money to someone in Guatemala (a relative, a buyer paying a car or a lot in installments, a business partner) and you want a document you can take to a Guatemalan court if the money does not come back. The pagaré is the document the Código de Comercio builds for that: Art. 385 defines títulos de crédito as documents that carry a literal and autonomous right that cannot be exercised or transferred without the document itself. That last part matters: the original paper is what you collect on, so keep it.

Download the pagaré template (Word, in Spanish)

The template has every requirement of Arts. 386 and 490, an installment line (Art. 491), an interest clause, and a por aval block for a guarantor (Art. 401):

The Spanish-language page with the same template is Pagaré: formato Word y requisitos.

The requirements, line by line

What the law fills in if you leave it blank. Art. 386: if no place of creation is stated, the maker’s domicile is used; if no place of payment is stated, the maker’s domicile is used too. Arts. 443 and 493: a note with no due date is payable on sight. Art. 387: any legitimate holder may complete omitted requirements before presenting the note for payment.

What the law does not fill in. The promise must be unconditional (Art. 490). A note that says I will pay when I sell the harvest does not meet Art. 490, and Art. 386 says títulos de crédito produce the Código de Comercio’s effects only when they meet the requirements. The same article adds that an incurable omission does not affect the underlying deal that led to the document, so the debt itself does not disappear; you lose the pagaré route to collect it.

Amount in words and figures. Art. 388: if the words and the figures differ, the amount in words prevails; if the amount is written several times, the smaller sum prevails.

The aval: a guarantor on the same paper

Art. 400 lets anyone, whether or not they already signed the note, guarantee all or part of the payment through an aval. The rules that matter when you draft it:

• It goes on the note itself or on a sheet attached to it, with the words por aval or an equivalent, and the guarantor’s signature (Art. 401). A bare signature on the note that cannot mean anything else is taken as an aval.
• If no amount is stated, the aval covers the whole note (Art. 402).
• The guarantor is bound up to the amount guaranteed, even if the debtor’s own obligation is void for any reason (Art. 403).
• The aval must say whose obligation it guarantees; if it does not, it is taken to guarantee the obligations of the signatory who frees the largest number of obligors (Art. 404).
• A guarantor who pays can recover from the person guaranteed (Art. 405).

People who sign the same act on a note are jointly liable (Art. 398). Art. 616 calls the action against the main obligor or the guarantors the direct action.

Collecting when the note is not paid

• No protest unless the note asks for one. Art. 469 makes protest necessary only when the maker writes con protesto on the face of the note; Art. 493 applies the letra de cambio rules to the pagaré.
• Executive procedure. Art. 630: collecting a título de crédito goes through the executive procedure without prior recognition of the signature, unless a protest was legally required. For the procedure, lawyers and court steps, see civil debt collection lawsuit in Guatemala.
• What you can claim. Art. 617: the amount of the note (or the unpaid part), default interest at the legal rate from the due date, protest costs if any, and other legitimate costs including the lawsuit.
• What the debtor can argue. Art. 619 limits the defenses to a closed list, among them that the defendant did not sign, the omission of requirements the law does not presume, alteration of the text, partial payment recorded on the note, and prescription.
• A denied signature. Art. 620: if the defendant swears before the judge that the signature is not theirs and that it was not signed by anyone representing them, even apparently, an attachment already made is lifted, unless the lender posts a bond the judge considers sufficient.
• Deadline. Art. 626: the direct action prescribes in three years from the due date.
• When you are paid. Art. 389: the holder must hand over the note when it is paid; for a partial payment, note it on the document and give a separate receipt.

Signing from abroad, and the language of the note

If the debtor signs outside Guatemala, or the note is written in another language, Ley del Organismo Judicial Art. 37 says documents from abroad that must take effect in Guatemala have to be legalized, and documents in a foreign language have to be translated into Spanish under oath by an authorized translator. Signing the Spanish template in Guatemala avoids both steps. For apostilles on US documents, see apostille documents for Guatemala from the USA.

A person who cannot sign can have someone else sign at their request, with that signature authenticated by a notary or the municipal secretary (Art. 397).

Costs

• The note itself: the stamp tax law (Decreto 37-92, Art. 11, numeral 9) exempts the creation, issue, circulation, negotiation and cancellation of títulos de crédito of every kind.
• Optional notarized signature: the notary’s fee for an auténtica is Q50 to Q200 by importance (Código de Notariado Art. 109, numeral 10); the acta de legalización also carries a Q10 notarial stamp (Decreto 82-96, Art. 3) and a Q5 tax stamp (Decreto 37-92, Art. 5, numeral 7). See notary fees in Guatemala.

English reading guide to the Spanish template

Related

• Civil debt collection lawsuit: the court side of collecting a debt
• Notary fees in Guatemala
• Lawyer fees in Guatemala
• Notarial power of attorney from the USA: if someone in Guatemala will collect for you

General information on the Código de Comercio, not legal advice. For large sums, guarantees on property or commercial debtors, talk to a Guatemalan lawyer.