Again I reiterate, the "record date" is just a for

Again I reiterate, the "record date" is just a formality that has to be put down for purposes of record keeping. Whether you get the dividend is determined by the ex-dividend date (day on which you must hold the stock), which is what the company uses to determine who will get the dividend at a particular time in the future.

The company can say the "record date" is September 1st, but the ex-dividend date is July 1st if they wanted to. If you didn't hold stock on July 1st, but held stock on July 2nd through September 2nd, you will NOT get the dividend.

Most of the time the dates will not be that far apart, but I'm using that as an example.