Have you ever met a brother and sister who are so different, you can’t imagine how they came from the same family? Well, that’s exactly how people described Danny and Susie Earth. The Earth siblings were brought up on Mother Earth Farm, a small dairy farm in Sun State.

Susie was the spitting image of her mother, Louise, and took to farming in much the same way. Susie grew up in the quaint farmhouse on five acres of rolling farmland, and she always expressed an interest in continuing the family’s small dairy cow business long into the future.

Danny, on the other hand, showed no inclination towards farming, nor a desire to develop one. He brushed off the cows in favor of a law career, ending up serving as in- house counsel for a fast food company. Talk about a departure from his roots! The only thing he helped out with was setting up the farm business as Mother Earth Farm, LLC. But despite their differences, the Earth siblings remained close as they grew up.

As Danny began his legal ventures, Susie joined her mother in running Mother Earth Farm. In 2012, their father Charlie passed away suddenly. Louise decided to retire from farm work, finding it just not the same without her partner by her side. She remained living with Susie on the farm property.

Susie was able to support them by starting to sell their milk to a local cheese maker. She became interested in the art of cheese making, and realized that she could greatly increase the amount of money they brought into the farm if she were to start making the cheese herself. She already had multiple restaurants and local stores owned by friends and long-time customers that would buy her product if she made it. She decided it was time to expand Mother Earth Farm’s operations.

Adjacent to the farm property was an additional two acres of land. The land used to be an alfalfa farm, but the new owners had no interest in cultivating it and were looking to sell it off. It would be perfect for Mother Earth Farm’s expansion – and even had a small building on site that Susie could convert to a commercial kitchen to make her cheese. The only problem? Susie didn’t know where she was going to come up with the $20,000 to purchase the land.

Before Susie went to the bank for a loan, which seemed like a huge hassle, she decided to call up Danny and explain the situation. Danny was more than happy to help out his sister expand their family business and support their ageing mother. He was not in a financial position where he could outright gift Susie the money, but he agreed to give Susie the loan for the land. His only hesitation was that he read many cases in law school where dealings with money caused problems between family members. To be safe and avoid any fights, Danny suggested that they use a promissory note to set out all the details and requirements of the loan so that they can focus on being siblings, rather than lender and borrower. He also suggested that they enter the promissory note between him and Mother Earth Farm, LLC and not Susie herself. After all, the money will be used for the business and not for Susie’s personal affairs. Danny explained that it’s important to keep these things separate. Susie agreed, and Danny began to take them through the process of discussing the details of the promissory note. Their plan was to then consult with a business attorney to draft up the official note.