Also known as: commencement dates · effective date · start date
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A date on which coverage under an insurance policy, corporate existence, or obligations under a legal instrument begin. The date is fixed by the terms of the governing document or statute unless a delayed effective date is specified.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Crestview Holdings submitted articles of incorporation on a Monday morning without specifying any delayed date. The secretary of state filed the articles that day. Corporate existence therefore began immediately, allowing the company to enter contracts as of that filing date.
Clifford Cox obtained a child-support order in State A. A tribunal in State B later modified the order. State A could still enforce arrears that accrued before the modification took effect and could grant relief for violations occurring before that date.
Caleb Chang created an irrevocable trust that referenced an ascertainable standard for distributions. The standard was defined by reference to the Internal Revenue Code sections as they existed on the effective date of the Uniform Trust Code in the enacting state.
Cameron Cruz died before the will that purported to grant him a power of appointment became effective. Because the donee had died before the effective date of the creating document, the power was never created and any attempted exercise failed.
Cardinal Insurance issued a policy to Coastal Shipping with coverage commencing on the first day of the following month. A loss occurred two days after that commencement date. The insurer therefore had to provide coverage because the policy period had begun.
Copperfield Mining renewed its liability policy. The insurer listed the anniversary of the original commencement date as the renewal date. A claim arising after that anniversary fell within the renewed policy period.
When no delayed effective date is stated, the commencement date is the date the document is filed or otherwise becomes operative under the governing statute or policy terms.
Supporting sources
Yes. A document may specify a delayed effective date, which then becomes the commencement date, provided it falls within any statutory maximum period such as ninety days after filing.
Supporting sources
Acts performed before the commencement date are not binding on the entity that later comes into existence and remain the personal obligations of the individuals who performed them.
Supporting sources
…regulation into the federal system, may formulate and announce the whole scope and effect of its action in advance, fix a future effective date, and avoid all the confusion, surprise, and injustice which will be caused by the action of the Court.[^maj-17] A judgment as to when the evil of a decisional error exceeds the evil of an…