(a) Unless a delayed effective date is specified, the corporate existence begins when the charter is filed by the secretary of state.

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 48-12-103

  • Charter: includes amended and restated charters and articles of merger. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
  • Proceeding: includes civil suit and criminal, administrative, and investigatory action. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the bylaws or the board of directors has delegated responsibility under §. See Tennessee Code 48-11-201
  • Secretary of state: means the person who holds the office of secretary of state of Tennessee. See Tennessee Code 48-202-101
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b) The secretary of state‘s filing of the charter is conclusive proof that the incorporators satisfied all conditions precedent to incorporation except in a proceeding by the state to cancel or revoke the incorporation or involuntarily dissolve the corporation.