diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/aser-component/aser.component.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/aser-component/aser.component.ts
index a2c399caf1..2a1269fb74 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/aser-component/aser.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/aser-component/aser.component.ts
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ export class AserComponent implements OnInit {
   generateNewRecordFactory() {
     return () => {
       const newAtt = new Aser(Date.now().toString());
-      newAtt.date = new Date();
       newAtt.child = this.entity.getId();
       return newAtt;
     };
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/model/aser.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/model/aser.ts
index a5e54673c7..f869db517a 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/model/aser.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/aser/model/aser.ts
@@ -21,14 +21,16 @@ import { DatabaseEntity } from "../../../../core/entity/database-entity.decorato
 import { SkillLevel } from "./skill-levels";
 import { WarningLevel } from "../../../../core/entity/model/warning-level";
 import { ConfigurableEnumDatatype } from "../../../../core/configurable-enum/configurable-enum-datatype/configurable-enum-datatype";
+import { PLACEHOLDERS } from "../../../../core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field";
 
 @DatabaseEntity("Aser")
 export class Aser extends Entity {
   @DatabaseField() child: string; // id of Child entity
   @DatabaseField({
     label: $localize`:Label for date of the ASER results:Date`,
+    defaultValue: PLACEHOLDERS.NOW,
   })
-  date: Date = new Date();
+  date: Date;
   @DatabaseField({
     label: $localize`:Label of the Hindi ASER result:Hindi`,
     dataType: "configurable-enum",
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/educational-material-component/educational-material.component.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/educational-material-component/educational-material.component.ts
index e5a4956a6d..160e221d1c 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/educational-material-component/educational-material.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/educational-material-component/educational-material.component.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,6 @@ export class EducationalMaterialComponent implements OnInit {
     // use last entered date as default, otherwise today's date
     newAtt.date = this.records.length > 0 ? this.records[0].date : new Date();
     newAtt.child = this.entity.getId();
-    newAtt.materialAmount = 1;
 
     return newAtt;
   };
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/model/educational-material.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/model/educational-material.ts
index b96b200d46..2128843a64 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/model/educational-material.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/children/educational-material/model/educational-material.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export class EducationalMaterial extends Entity {
   materialType: ConfigurableEnumValue;
   @DatabaseField({
     label: $localize`:The amount of the material which has been borrowed:Amount`,
+    defaultValue: 1,
     validators: {
       required: true,
     },
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/model/note.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/model/note.ts
index 010700ea47..0521ea9be0 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/model/note.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/model/note.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import {
 } from "../../../core/entity/model/warning-level";
 import { School } from "../../schools/model/school";
 import { Ordering } from "../../../core/configurable-enum/configurable-enum-ordering";
+import { PLACEHOLDERS } from "../../../core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field";
 
 @DatabaseEntity("Note")
 export class Note extends Entity {
@@ -93,6 +94,7 @@ export class Note extends Entity {
   @DatabaseField({
     label: $localize`:Label for the date of a note:Date`,
     dataType: "date-only",
+    defaultValue: PLACEHOLDERS.NOW,
   })
   date: Date;
   @DatabaseField({ label: $localize`:Label for the subject of a note:Subject` })
@@ -107,6 +109,7 @@ export class Note extends Entity {
     label: $localize`:Label for the social worker(s) who created the note:SW`,
     dataType: "entity-array",
     additional: User.ENTITY_TYPE,
+    defaultValue: PLACEHOLDERS.CURRENT_USER,
   })
   authors: string[] = [];
 
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-manager/notes-manager.component.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-manager/notes-manager.component.ts
index 2e1fc36362..aba86c325a 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-manager/notes-manager.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-manager/notes-manager.component.ts
@@ -183,8 +183,6 @@ export class NotesManagerComponent implements OnInit {
 
   addNoteClick() {
     const newNote = new Note(Date.now().toString());
-    newNote.date = new Date();
-    newNote.authors = [this.sessionService.getCurrentUser().name];
     this.showDetails(newNote);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.spec.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.spec.ts
index 58732aa1b9..b39df063e9 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.spec.ts
@@ -8,10 +8,7 @@ import {
 import { ChildrenService } from "../../children/children.service";
 import { Note } from "../model/note";
 import { Child } from "../../children/model/child";
-import {
-  MockedTestingModule,
-  TEST_USER,
-} from "../../../utils/mocked-testing.module";
+import { MockedTestingModule } from "../../../utils/mocked-testing.module";
 import { Entity } from "../../../core/entity/model/entity";
 import { School } from "../../schools/model/school";
 import { User } from "../../../core/user/user";
@@ -62,21 +59,18 @@ describe("NotesRelatedToEntityComponent", () => {
     component.ngOnInit();
     let note = component.generateNewRecordFactory()();
     expect(note.children).toEqual([entity.getId()]);
-    expect(note.authors).toEqual([TEST_USER]);
 
     entity = new School();
     component.entity = entity;
     component.ngOnInit();
     note = component.generateNewRecordFactory()();
     expect(note.schools).toEqual([entity.getId()]);
-    expect(note.authors).toEqual([TEST_USER]);
 
     entity = new User();
     component.entity = entity;
     component.ngOnInit();
     note = component.generateNewRecordFactory()();
-    // adding a note for a User does not make that User an author of the note!
-    expect(note.authors).toEqual([TEST_USER]);
+    expect(note.relatedEntities).toEqual([entity.getId(true)]);
 
     entity = new ChildSchoolRelation();
     entity["childId"] = "someChild";
diff --git a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.ts b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.ts
index 6ca45d495f..0e060b7c09 100644
--- a/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/child-dev-project/notes/notes-related-to-entity/notes-related-to-entity.component.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import { Note } from "../model/note";
 import { NoteDetailsComponent } from "../note-details/note-details.component";
 import { ChildrenService } from "../../children/children.service";
 import moment from "moment";
-import { SessionService } from "../../../core/session/session-service/session.service";
 import { FormDialogService } from "../../../core/form-dialog/form-dialog.service";
 import { DynamicComponent } from "../../../core/view/dynamic-components/dynamic-component.decorator";
 import { Entity } from "../../../core/entity/model/entity";
@@ -50,7 +49,6 @@ export class NotesRelatedToEntityComponent implements OnInit {
 
   constructor(
     private childrenService: ChildrenService,
-    private sessionService: SessionService,
     private formDialog: FormDialogService,
     private filterService: FilterService
   ) {}
@@ -80,11 +78,8 @@ export class NotesRelatedToEntityComponent implements OnInit {
   }
 
   generateNewRecordFactory() {
-    const user = this.sessionService.getCurrentUser().name;
-
     return () => {
       const newNote = new Note(Date.now().toString());
-      newNote.date = new Date();
 
       //TODO: generalize this code - possibly by only using relatedEntities to link other records here? see #1501
       if (this.entity.getType() === Child.ENTITY_TYPE) {
@@ -99,10 +94,6 @@ export class NotesRelatedToEntityComponent implements OnInit {
         newNote.relatedEntities.push(this.entity.getId(true));
       }
 
-      if (!newNote.authors.includes(user)) {
-        // TODO: should we keep authors completely separate of also add them into the relatedEntities as well?
-        newNote.authors.push(user);
-      }
       this.filterService.alignEntityWithFilter(newNote, this.filter);
 
       return newNote;
diff --git a/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.spec.ts b/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.spec.ts
index 2bf9f0c50c..be53457682 100644
--- a/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.spec.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ import { MatDialogModule } from "@angular/material/dialog";
 import { UnsavedChangesService } from "../entity-details/form/unsaved-changes.service";
 import { Router } from "@angular/router";
 import { NotFoundComponent } from "../../view/dynamic-routing/not-found/not-found.component";
+import { SessionService } from "../../session/session-service/session.service";
+import {
+  EntitySchemaField,
+  PLACEHOLDERS,
+} from "../../entity/schema/entity-schema-field";
+import { TEST_USER } from "../../../utils/mocked-testing.module";
+import { arrayEntitySchemaDatatype } from "../../entity/schema-datatypes/datatype-array";
+import { entityArrayEntitySchemaDatatype } from "../../entity/schema-datatypes/datatype-entity-array";
 
 describe("EntityFormService", () => {
   let service: EntityFormService;
@@ -33,6 +41,10 @@ describe("EntityFormService", () => {
         EntitySchemaService,
         { provide: EntityMapperService, useValue: mockEntityMapper },
         EntityAbility,
+        {
+          provide: SessionService,
+          useValue: { getCurrentUser: () => ({ name: TEST_USER }) },
+        },
       ],
     });
     service = TestBed.inject(EntityFormService);
@@ -168,4 +180,52 @@ describe("EntityFormService", () => {
 
     expect(unsavedChanged.pending).toBeFalse();
   });
+
+  it("should assign default values", () => {
+    const schema: EntitySchemaField = { defaultValue: 1 };
+    Entity.schema.set("test", schema);
+
+    let form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], new Entity());
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue(1);
+
+    schema.defaultValue = PLACEHOLDERS.NOW;
+    form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], new Entity());
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue(new Date());
+
+    schema.defaultValue = PLACEHOLDERS.CURRENT_USER;
+    form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], new Entity());
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue(TEST_USER);
+
+    schema.dataType = arrayEntitySchemaDatatype.name;
+    form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], new Entity());
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue([TEST_USER]);
+
+    schema.dataType = entityArrayEntitySchemaDatatype.name;
+    form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], new Entity());
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue([TEST_USER]);
+
+    Entity.schema.delete("test");
+  });
+
+  it("should not assign default values to existing entities", () => {
+    Entity.schema.set("test", { defaultValue: 1 });
+
+    const entity = new Entity();
+    entity._rev = "1-existing_entity";
+    const form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], entity);
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue(null);
+
+    Entity.schema.delete("test");
+  });
+
+  it("should not overwrite existing values with default value", () => {
+    Entity.schema.set("test", { defaultValue: 1 });
+
+    const entity = new Entity();
+    entity["test"] = 2;
+    const form = service.createFormGroup([{ id: "test" }], entity);
+    expect(form.get("test")).toHaveValue(2);
+
+    Entity.schema.delete("test");
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.ts b/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.ts
index be650962cf..3ae8adbff1 100644
--- a/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/entity-components/entity-form/entity-form.service.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ import { UnsavedChangesService } from "../entity-details/form/unsaved-changes.se
 import { ActivationStart, Router } from "@angular/router";
 import { Subscription } from "rxjs";
 import { filter } from "rxjs/operators";
+import { SessionService } from "../../session/session-service/session.service";
+import {
+  EntitySchemaField,
+  PLACEHOLDERS,
+} from "../../entity/schema/entity-schema-field";
+import { isArrayDataType } from "../entity-utils/entity-utils";
 
 /**
  * These are utility types that allow to define the type of `FormGroup` the way it is returned by `EntityFormService.create`
@@ -34,6 +40,7 @@ export class EntityFormService {
     private dynamicValidator: DynamicValidatorsService,
     private ability: EntityAbility,
     private unsavedChanges: UnsavedChangesService,
+    private session: SessionService,
     router: Router
   ) {
     router.events
@@ -115,7 +122,16 @@ export class EntityFormService {
     formFields
       .filter((formField) => entitySchema.get(formField.id))
       .forEach((formField) => {
-        formConfig[formField.id] = [copy[formField.id]];
+        const schema = entitySchema.get(formField.id);
+        let val = copy[formField.id];
+        if (
+          entity.isNew &&
+          schema.defaultValue &&
+          (!val || (val as []).length === 0)
+        ) {
+          val = this.getDefaultValue(schema);
+        }
+        formConfig[formField.id] = [val];
         if (formField.validators) {
           const validators = this.dynamicValidator.buildValidators(
             formField.validators
@@ -131,6 +147,24 @@ export class EntityFormService {
     return group;
   }
 
+  private getDefaultValue<T>(schema: EntitySchemaField) {
+    let newVal;
+    switch (schema.defaultValue) {
+      case PLACEHOLDERS.NOW:
+        newVal = new Date();
+        break;
+      case PLACEHOLDERS.CURRENT_USER:
+        newVal = this.session.getCurrentUser().name;
+        break;
+      default:
+        newVal = schema.defaultValue;
+    }
+    if (isArrayDataType(schema.dataType)) {
+      newVal = [newVal];
+    }
+    return newVal;
+  }
+
   /**
    * This function applies the changes of the formGroup to the entity.
    * If the form is invalid or the entity does not pass validation after applying the changes, an error will be thrown.
diff --git a/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field.ts b/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field.ts
index 8d89dd72a1..68622e7a21 100644
--- a/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field.ts
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@ export interface EntitySchemaField {
 
   /**
    * Whether the field should be initialized with a default value if undefined
-   * (which is then run through dataType transformation);
+   * Default values are applied to form fields before they are displayed to users
    */
-  defaultValue?: any;
+  defaultValue?: PLACEHOLDERS | any;
 
   /**
    * (Optional) Assign any custom "extension" configuration you need for a specific datatype extension.
@@ -105,3 +105,12 @@ export interface EntitySchemaField {
   /** whether to show this field in the default details view */
   showInDetailsView?: boolean;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Available placeholder variables that can be used to configure a dynamic default value.
+ * (e.g. "$now" to set to current date)
+ */
+export enum PLACEHOLDERS {
+  NOW = "$now",
+  CURRENT_USER = "$current_user",
+}
diff --git a/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema.service.ts b/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema.service.ts
index 3783fd6af8..7d69f5c5fa 100644
--- a/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema.service.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/entity/schema/entity-schema.service.ts
@@ -107,12 +107,7 @@ export class EntitySchemaService {
       const schemaField: EntitySchemaField = schema.get(key);
 
       if (data[key] === undefined || data[key] === null) {
-        if (schemaField.defaultValue !== undefined) {
-          data[key] = schemaField.defaultValue;
-        } else {
-          // skip and keep undefined
-          continue;
-        }
+        continue;
       }
 
       const newValue = this.getDatatypeOrDefault(
@@ -163,12 +158,8 @@ export class EntitySchemaService {
       const schemaField: EntitySchemaField = schema.get(key);
 
       if (value === undefined || value === null) {
-        if (schemaField.defaultValue !== undefined) {
-          value = schemaField.defaultValue;
-        } else {
-          // skip and keep undefined
-          continue;
-        }
+        // skip and keep undefined
+        continue;
       }
 
       try {
diff --git a/src/app/core/ui/primary-action/primary-action.component.ts b/src/app/core/ui/primary-action/primary-action.component.ts
index 4eb7258b77..358cdd6209 100644
--- a/src/app/core/ui/primary-action/primary-action.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/ui/primary-action/primary-action.component.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { ChangeDetectionStrategy, Component } from "@angular/core";
 import { Note } from "../../../child-dev-project/notes/model/note";
-import { SessionService } from "../../session/session-service/session.service";
 import { NoteDetailsComponent } from "../../../child-dev-project/notes/note-details/note-details.component";
 import { FormDialogService } from "../../form-dialog/form-dialog.service";
 import { MatButtonModule } from "@angular/material/button";
@@ -31,7 +30,6 @@ export class PrimaryActionComponent {
   noteConstructor = Note;
 
   constructor(
-    private sessionService: SessionService,
     private formDialog: FormDialogService
   ) {}
 
@@ -47,9 +45,6 @@ export class PrimaryActionComponent {
   }
 
   private createNewNote() {
-    const newNote = new Note(Date.now().toString());
-    newNote.date = new Date();
-    newNote.authors = [this.sessionService.getCurrentUser().name];
-    return newNote;
+    return new Note(Date.now().toString());
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/features/historical-data/historical-data/historical-data.component.ts b/src/app/features/historical-data/historical-data/historical-data.component.ts
index 070c4f17ed..8aef4d8fa7 100644
--- a/src/app/features/historical-data/historical-data/historical-data.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/historical-data/historical-data/historical-data.component.ts
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ export class HistoricalDataComponent implements OnInit {
     return () => {
       const newEntry = new HistoricalEntityData();
       newEntry.relatedEntity = this.entity.getId();
-      newEntry.date = new Date();
       return newEntry;
     };
   }
diff --git a/src/app/features/historical-data/model/historical-entity-data.ts b/src/app/features/historical-data/model/historical-entity-data.ts
index 85367cad9d..82f669510e 100644
--- a/src/app/features/historical-data/model/historical-entity-data.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/historical-data/model/historical-entity-data.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { Entity } from "../../../core/entity/model/entity";
 import { DatabaseEntity } from "../../../core/entity/database-entity.decorator";
 import { DatabaseField } from "../../../core/entity/database-field.decorator";
+import { PLACEHOLDERS } from "../../../core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field";
 
 /**
  * A general class that represents data that is collected for a entity over time.
@@ -8,7 +9,10 @@ import { DatabaseField } from "../../../core/entity/database-field.decorator";
  */
 @DatabaseEntity("HistoricalEntityData")
 export class HistoricalEntityData extends Entity {
-  @DatabaseField({ label: $localize`:Label for date of historical data:Date` })
+  @DatabaseField({
+    label: $localize`:Label for date of historical data:Date`,
+    defaultValue: PLACEHOLDERS.NOW,
+  })
   date: Date;
   @DatabaseField() relatedEntity: string;
 }
diff --git a/src/app/features/todos/model/todo.ts b/src/app/features/todos/model/todo.ts
index 15e40ffa5a..e050c1c657 100644
--- a/src/app/features/todos/model/todo.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/todos/model/todo.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import { RecurringActivity } from "../../../child-dev-project/attendance/model/r
 import { TimeInterval } from "../recurring-interval/time-interval";
 import { TodoCompletion } from "./todo-completion";
 import { WarningLevel } from "../../../core/entity/model/warning-level";
+import { PLACEHOLDERS } from "../../../core/entity/schema/entity-schema-field";
 
 @DatabaseEntity("Todo")
 export class Todo extends Entity {
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@ export class Todo extends Entity {
     dataType: "entity-array",
     additional: User.ENTITY_TYPE,
     showInDetailsView: true,
+    defaultValue: PLACEHOLDERS.CURRENT_USER,
   })
   assignedTo: string[] = [];
 
diff --git a/src/app/features/todos/todo-list/todo-list.component.ts b/src/app/features/todos/todo-list/todo-list.component.ts
index b4fba6026d..062f74b568 100644
--- a/src/app/features/todos/todo-list/todo-list.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/todos/todo-list/todo-list.component.ts
@@ -116,9 +116,7 @@ export class TodoListComponent implements OnInit {
   }
 
   createNew() {
-    const newEntity = new Todo();
-    newEntity.assignedTo = [this.sessionService.getCurrentUser().name];
-    this.showDetails(newEntity);
+    this.showDetails(new Todo());
   }
 
   showDetails(entity: Todo) {
diff --git a/src/app/features/todos/todos-related-to-entity/todos-related-to-entity.component.ts b/src/app/features/todos/todos-related-to-entity/todos-related-to-entity.component.ts
index 4d0753f6fa..2b39dcbbbc 100644
--- a/src/app/features/todos/todos-related-to-entity/todos-related-to-entity.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/features/todos/todos-related-to-entity/todos-related-to-entity.component.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { Entity } from "../../../core/entity/model/entity";
 import { Todo } from "../model/todo";
 import { DatabaseIndexingService } from "../../../core/entity/database-indexing/database-indexing.service";
 import { DynamicComponent } from "../../../core/view/dynamic-components/dynamic-component.decorator";
-import { SessionService } from "../../../core/session/session-service/session.service";
 import { FormDialogService } from "../../../core/form-dialog/form-dialog.service";
 import { TodoDetailsComponent } from "../todo-details/todo-details.component";
 import { DataFilter } from "../../../core/entity-components/entity-subrecord/entity-subrecord/entity-subrecord-config";
@@ -53,8 +52,7 @@ export class TodosRelatedToEntityComponent implements OnInit {
 
   constructor(
     private formDialog: FormDialogService,
-    private dbIndexingService: DatabaseIndexingService,
-    private sessionService: SessionService
+    private dbIndexingService: DatabaseIndexingService
   ) {
     // TODO: move this generic index creation into schema
     this.dbIndexingService.generateIndexOnProperty(
@@ -86,7 +84,6 @@ export class TodosRelatedToEntityComponent implements OnInit {
     return () => {
       const newEntry = new Todo();
       newEntry.relatedEntities = [this.entity.getId(true)];
-      newEntry.assignedTo = [this.sessionService.getCurrentUser().name];
       return newEntry;
     };
   }