My signed IOU is back in my possession but my creditor claims he never gave it to me - who has to prove how I got it?

The law presumes voluntary delivery

Article 1272 puts the starting advantage with you. It provides: Whenever the private document in which the debt appears is found in the possession of the debtor, it shall be presumed that the creditor delivered it voluntarily, unless the contrary is proved. In your case, the signed IOU, the private document recording your debt, is back in your hands. That fact alone triggers the presumption. The law does not begin by suspecting you took it; it begins by assuming your creditor handed it over willingly. Your creditor's bare claim that he never gave it is not enough on its own to defeat that assumption.

Why a voluntarily returned IOU matters so much

The presumption is not a technicality; it can decide whether the debt still exists. When a creditor voluntarily gives the debtor the private document proving the loan, the law treats that as a sign the debt was forgiven or paid, a return of the very evidence of the obligation. That is why the point is worth fighting over. If the creditor voluntarily delivered the IOU to you, the natural inference is that he no longer intends to collect on it. Recovering the document from the creditor's control, without any theft or trick, is therefore powerful evidence in your favour that you no longer owe.

The burden sits on your creditor

Because the presumption favours you, the person who must do the proving is the creditor, not you. The article makes the assumption of voluntary delivery hold unless the contrary is proved. That phrase places the burden squarely on whoever wants to overturn it. You are not required to explain how the document reached you; it is enough that it is in your possession. To win, your creditor must come forward with evidence showing the delivery was not voluntary, for example that the IOU was stolen, taken without his knowledge, or handed over by mistake. Until he proves something like that, the presumption stands and you are treated as having received it rightfully.

The limits of the presumption

Two boundaries are worth knowing. First, the presumption is disputable, not conclusive. It shifts the burden to the creditor, but it can be overcome by real proof to the contrary, and it will yield if the creditor produces credible evidence that you obtained the document improperly. Second, it applies to a private document, the kind of ordinary signed IOU between the parties, and rests on the document actually being found in the debtor's possession. If the paper is not genuinely in your hands, or the debt is recorded elsewhere as well, the presumption may not carry the same weight. Keep the original safe; possession is what makes the rule work for you.

Related provisions

• Civil Code, Article 1272 — Presumption From the Debtor's Possession of the Document