Post Dating a Contract

The date of performance is the day on which both parties sign the contract. This is when both parties accept the conditions described in the contract. However, this is not necessarily the day of entry into force of the Treaty. So what is the date of entry into force of a treaty? The date on which the Agreement enters into force is referred to as the Effective Date (or Effective Date of the Agreement), which may differ from the Performance Date. This date cannot be earlier than the date of performance, which means that a contract cannot enter into force until all parties have signed it. By signing the contract, all parties agree on the effective date. Date of consent. Sometimes, the discrepancies described between the date of signature and the economic efficiency of a contract can only be corrected by requesting the return of documents or disturbing the other party with another change. In these cases, it may be useful to remember that the meeting of spirits or the acceptance of the last offer was probably even a few days earlier. This means that the (oral) agreement already existed and can be useful in the preparation of a document. When signing your next contract, take the time to read the document carefully. Now that you know the difference between an effective date and an expiration date, pay attention to the document to see exactly when it takes effect.

If the answer is not clear after answering these questions, there is what I call the "gastrointestinal law" - does it seem right to you? If the parties feel that they are not doing the right thing or if there are doubts as to whether this is fair, then they should add the disclosure of backdating or reconsider this strategy as a whole. Date of entry into force or signature. The first line often contains a date (for best practices for writing a date in contracts – see section 6.3(d)). This is the date on which the contract was concluded or the date on which the contract becomes economically effective, unless the contract provides otherwise. Have you ever signed a contract and wondered when the terms of the contract would become enforceable? For many of us, the answer to this question is probably "no." It is a common misconception that a contract becomes valid on the day it is signed. This is not necessarily the case. Here are some examples of situations where backdating may be acceptable: But dating signatures can be a nuisance. As I noted in this November 2008 blog post, one problem is that sometimes parties return signed signature pages without entering the date next to the signature. Depending on the contract, the effective date and the performance date may be identical. Read your contract carefully to determine exactly when it starts. However, keep in mind that there are several ways to write an expiration date in a contract.

Sometimes an effective date is a fixed date that is explicitly specified. However, the contract may not start on a fixed date and may instead be conditional. If a contract begins on the day all parties sign it, this is a conditional effective date. A contract can also begin after important documents have been submitted to the state or the date a license is issued. Legally, a contract should usually only be backdated if: Perhaps the most common form of backdating is "status." Often, at the beginning of a contract, it is stated that it was concluded "from" a certain date. The use of the term "stand" should be a wake-up call that the date is not necessarily the date on which the contract was signed. Rather, it is a date on which the parties have agreed that their contract will take effect. The "stand date" may be before or after the actual date of signature. If an entity is a contracting party, it is imperative that the signature block correctly identifies the party signing on behalf of that entity. For example, if someone signs as the president of a company, the signature block should look like this: Suppose the seller submits a contract with products delivered from February 1, in the seller`s example above, december 15. Suppose the customer signs the contract on January 15, but the seller asks the customer to date it to December 30 so that the seller has a higher turnover for the calendar year and receives a larger bonus.

This backdating would be misleading and inappropriate. [1] More detailed information on the meaning of contractual grounds can be found in my article entitled Recitals. Decisions about the date that should be included in a document are probably something that needs to be made regularly in a practical business environment. This is due to the fact that most business and legal documents take some time to come together, which requires projects and negotiations before they are finally executed. It is common for there to be days or weeks between acceptance to the commercial conditions and the official date of performance of the contract. Another potential problem is: what happens if the person signing enters a date other than the date they signed? Or do they sign and date the contract but wait a few days before returning it? In both cases, the result could be that the contract receives a different date than the date that would have been used if the signer had entered the actual date and returned the signature page immediately. This could be a greater nuisance than playing with the date in the initiation clause – the date you use in the introductory clause is something the parties must agree on, while someone who signs a contract is free to give their signature whenever they wish. Sometimes a document needs to be backdated to make it accurate. Suppose a supplier starts delivering their product under a proposed contract, only to find out later that the customer never signed the contract.

In this case, the insertion of the date on which the parties began to perform the contract is more precise than the insertion of the actual date of signature. This wording clearly indicates to anyone reading the written contract that it has been backdated. This also explains why the contract is backdated. The date of the contract is the date on which both parties agree to be bound by the terms of the contract. As a general rule, this should generally be the date on which the last party signed the contract. The backsating of a contract may constitute a criminal offence under section 17 (False accounting) or section 19 (False statements by business managers) of the Theft Act 1968. It may also constitute forgery under section 1 of the Counterfeiting and Counterfeiting Act 1981, as the document becomes a "false instrument" if it is "amended on a date ... it wasn`t really done. .