Also known as: definite-time · definite times · fixed time · certain time
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A condition that an instrument must satisfy to be negotiable requiring payment on elapse of a definite period after sight or acceptance or at a fixed date or dates readily ascertainable when the instrument is issued.
Dominion Capital issues a promissory note to Darrell Duncan promising payment of $50,000. The note specifies that the sum is due exactly one year from the date of issuance. When the due date arrives without payment, Darrell Duncan presents the note for enforcement and treats it as negotiable because the payment obligation is fixed at a readily ascertainable moment.
Home Building & Loan Association holds a mortgage note from a borrower that requires monthly installments on the first day of each month for five years. The borrower defaults after the third year. The lender accelerates the remaining balance and sues, relying on the fixed repayment dates to establish the maturity of the obligation.
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A tour manager contracts with a singer to provide stage services beginning on a date certain six weeks after signing. The manager repudiates the agreement before that date. The singer sues immediately for breach, treating the specified start date as the point at which performance becomes due under the agreement.
An instrument is payable at a definite time when it states payment on elapse of a definite period after sight or acceptance or at a fixed date or dates readily ascertainable at issuance.
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No. An instrument remains payable at a definite time even if it permits extension to a further definite time at the option of the maker or automatically upon a specified event.
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If an instrument payable at a fixed date is also payable on demand made before that date, it is payable on demand until the fixed date arrives and becomes payable at a definite time on the fixed date if no earlier demand occurs.
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An action to enforce a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within six years after the due date or dates stated in the note or after any accelerated due date.
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…v. Evans do not compel a contrary conclusion; they concern the measure of damages on sale of goods to be delivered at a fixed time rather than the question of immediate remedy on a clear renunciation. Ripley v. McClure did not decide that a prior renunciation never gives a right of action. Planche v. Colburn is an…