Abstract Stars do not remain static, so their habitable zones evolve in time. Over a star's evolution, its habitable zone encompasses new planets, and it remains uncertain whether these planets can become habitable. We refer to this often overlooked class of planets as lying in the belatedly habitable zone, and stress that many planets found in the habitable zones of other stars will belong to this class. Future studies should take belated habitability into account and not implicitly assume that these planets are habitable.