How do I update my corporate minutes years later?

By Nina Kaufman

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

I am the sole shareholder and director of a closely held corporation. I have failed to keep my minute book updated for several years. How do I go back now and update the minutes? I know that corporate records cannot be falsified, so if I write minutes for meetings that should have occurred years ago, wouldn't I be falsifying records?
You are not falsifying records if you are accurately recording (albeit at a later date) what transpired in the past.

If you start making up stuff or inserting information that didn't actually happen, then you're in danger of falsifying. To avoid the challenge, you can draw up the minutes for, say, 2004, but date them today (or whenever you write the minutes). And be sure to keep current going forward.

Nina L. Kaufman, Esq. is an award-winning New York City attorney, edutainer and author. Under her Ask The Business Lawyer brand, she reaches thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners with her legal services, professional speaking, information products, and LexAppeal weekly ezine. She also writes the Making It Legal blog.

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