Phrase in arrears first recorded 1610s, but in arrearages is from late 14c. “unpaid debt,” early 14c., from Old French arierage “detriment, prejudice” in a legal sense (Modern French arrérages), from ariere “behind” (see arrears). The difference between arrears and arrearage is subtle, but important.
There are a couple of potential meanings to the phrase, “paid in arrears.” It often refers to the practice of compensating the provider of a service after they have completed the agreement of a contract. Such agreements state that payment will be made after a certain period expires, as opposed to in advance. This means that the interest is due to be paid on the maturity date of the loan, instead of in bits and pieces during the life of the loan like an annuity payment. When an issuer makes $50 coupon payments semi-annually, this means the interest on the bond would have to accrue for six months before any payment is made to the bondholders. All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only.
- Mortgage interest payments are paid in arrears and only suggest a negative connotation when the due date has passed.
- Arrearage also can mean a person or business that is behind on paying bills, debts, or other obligations.
- Such agreements state that payment will be made after a certain period expires, as opposed to in advance.
- In accounting, arrears is used in at least three different ways.
- Phrase in arrears first recorded 1610s, but in arrearages is from late 14c.
The same distinction holds for other interest rate derivatives, e.g. caps, floors and swaptions. If you need help with the arrearages legal definition, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel’s marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site.
Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb. This allows the business to acquire payment from its own debtors before paying their creditors. It basically allows space to get what you need before meeting your obligations.
Arrearages broadly refers to being in arrears or owing a debt. One refers to payments in arrears that are meant to occur after they are owed, such as wages paid a week after time is entered or for invoices. Arrearage also can mean a person or business that is behind on paying bills, debts, covariance formula or other obligations. When being used in this form, arrearage often involves debts piling up over time, signaling a warning of insolvency. For example, individuals responsible for paying child support and alimony may be referred to as paying in arrears when behind on the payments.
Is Being in Arrears Always Negative?
In such a case, arrears amounts accumulate from the date a payment has been missed. Accounts that are paid from the date of the oldest payment, and continue to be considered arrearage until the count is brought current. When payrolls are in arrears, the previous week’s (or some other period’s) payments are processed and paid out to employees as opposed to wages earned during the current period.
For example, a housing tenant who is obliged to pay rent at the end of each month is said to pay rent in arrear, while a tenant who has not paid rental due for 30 days is said to be one month in arrears. Precise usage may differ slightly (e.g. “in arrear” or “in arrears” for the same situation) in different countries. It’s important to remember when you’re in arrears that just because you have begun making regular payments, this doesn’t mean your accounts are up to date.
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We’re doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we’ll take care of it shortly. From Middle English arrerage, from Old French arierage (“detriment, legal prejudice”).
Legal Definition
Changes in employment or source of income, or changes
to the income withholding order must be recorded on the CASE INPUT RECORD
NON IV-D INCOME WITHHOLDING (JD-FM-150) and mailed to the PO Box listed
above. The Non IV-D Unit will make the changes necessary for the SDU to
accurately process your payment. Please refer to the instructions on the
JD-FM-150 for further information.Contact the Non IV-D Unit by
email. There are also instances where bills or liabilities come due after the service has been provided such as utility bills, property taxes, and employee salaries.
Dividend in Arrears
In accounting, arrears is used in at least three different ways. PLEASE NOTE – Use of the Child Support Enforcement Program is not mandatory. You may establish paternity and/or support and enforce court orders without
the assistance of the IV-D program. The Connecticut Child Support Enforcement Program
(referred to as the “IV-D” program) is a cooperative effort between the
Judicial and Executive Branches of Connecticut government. The primary
Judicial Branch component of the IV-D program is the Support Enforcement
Services Unit of the Court Operations Division. Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia.
Keep tabs on everyone that owes you money, and if your debtors are constantly behind on payments it could be a sign of a serious problem. When two parties come to an agreement in a contract, payment is usually made before or after a product or service is provided. Payment made before a service is provided is common with rents, leases, prepaid phone bills, insurance premium payments, and Internet service bills.
Accounting
This also allows this accumulating cash to earn interest for the company before it is paid out. If you continue making regular payments each month after that, you are still in arrears for $500 until the time you make up the payment you missed. Similarly, if you paid $300 of that Jan. 15 payment, you are in arrears for $200 as of Jan. 16 until the time you pay it off and bring your account up to date. Arrears can also refer, however, to the condition of a business being behind on owed payments.
Another example involves preferred stocks where a business is in arrears and must pay back the owed debt before paying other shareholders. The arrearages legal definition is the amount of a loan, shares of a preferred stock, or any other form of credit which is overdue. Arrears is another term that means the same thing as arrearages.
Dividends in arrears tends to occur when a company fails to turn a significant enough profit with which to pay their preferred shareholders the dividends guaranteed to them. These unpaid dividends are frequently referred to as “omitted preferred dividends”. In the case of a preferred dividend, if the company does not pay the dividend to its shareholders, that dividend income accumulates. This means that in the future, arrearage must be paid to preferred shareholder before any dividends can be paid on common stock. Some of the most common types of payments to be in arrears include payroll, mortgage, rent, car payment, child support, credit card, and taxes. Paying in arrears is often beneficial to businesses as it provides them with the time to have more flexibility with their cash flows—instead of having to pay obligations with current cash flows, they can accrue that cash for later payment.
If you make only minimum payments, your account will remain past due. It’s important to catch up on your arrearage as soon as possible, to avoid serious issues with your company’s credit and accounts. Furthermore, the dividend payouts to preferred shareholder behave like bonds, in that they are locked in at fixed rates—a characteristic attractive to more risk-averse investors. An amount on a loan, cumulative preferred stock or any credit instrument that is overdue.