GRANDFATHER CLAUSE is a provision in a law that ensures that the law is not retroactive, that it does not render a previously legal thing illegal. For example, a new zoning by-law requiring all houses to be at least five feet from the side lot line would not render illegal a 20-year-old house that stands three feet from the side lot line. The property would be described as "legal non-conforming".
Barry Goldsmith
| APA | Barry Goldsmith. (2010). grandfather clause. Retrieved September 30, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/grandfather_clause/definitions/1155096 |
| Chicago | Barry Goldsmith. 2010. "grandfather clause" http://smartdefine.org/grandfather_clause/definitions/1155096 (accessed September 30, 2026). |
| Harvard | Barry Goldsmith 2010, grandfather clause, Smart Define, viewed 30 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/grandfather_clause/definitions/1155096>. |
| MLA | Barry Goldsmith. "grandfather clause" 21 October 2010. Web. 30 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/grandfather_clause/definitions/1155096> |