What is an example of a grandfathering clause?

Asked by: Carlotta Kshlerin  |  Last update: November 16, 2025
Score: 4.5/5 (38 votes)

For example, legislators requiring power plants to be carbon neutral may allow currently operating power plants to be grandfathered for ten years, giving them ten years to prepare for the change. The term grandfather clause comes from a racially driven set of voting laws in the South after the Civil War.

What is the grandfather clause in simple terms?

A grandfather clause is a clause that is found in a new law stating that some individuals may not have to abide by the new law because they fall under the guidelines of an old law. In other words, they get an exemption from the new law.

What is an example of the grandfather rule?

Example: Corporation A owns 60% of Corporation B, and Corporation A has a Filipino shareholder owning 50% of its stock and a foreign shareholder owning the remaining 50%. Under the Grandfather Rule, only 30% of Corporation B would be considered Filipino-owned (i.e., 60% * 50% = 30%).

What is an example of a grandfather clause in real estate?

Common Scenarios for Grandfathered Rights

Examples include businesses operating in residential zones or buildings exceeding height restrictions. Despite not meeting current requirements, these properties are protected under grandfathered rights.

What are grandfathering rules?

A policy or provision (usually contained in statute) under which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to future cases. The term "legacied" is increasingly being used as a gender-neutral alternative.

Grandfathering - Explained

40 related questions found

What is the rule of grandfathering?

What is the concept of Grandfathering? When a new clause or policy is added to a law, certain persons may be relieved from complying with the new clause. This is called “grandfathering”. “Grandfathered” persons enjoy the right to avail the concession because they have made their decisions under the old law.

What is an example of grandfathering clause?

For example, a grandfathered power plant might be exempt from new, more restrictive pollution laws, but the exception may be revoked and the new rules would apply if the plant were expanded.

What got rid of the grandfather clause?

After the U.S. Supreme Court found such provisions unconstitutional in Guinn v. United States (1915), states were forced to stop using the grandfather clauses to provide exemption to literacy tests.

What are grandfathered requirements?

A grandfather or legacy clause is a provision that allows people or entities to follow old rules that once governed their activity instead of newly implemented ones, often for a limited time.

Do grandfather clauses expire?

Businesses or individuals who were partaking in the regulated activity prior to the change can continue to do so after the law or regulation goes into effect. Grandfather clauses can last forever, or they often can be limited.

Which is the legal basis for grandfather clauses?

Of several devices that have been held unconstitutional, one of the first was the “grandfather clause.” Beginning in 1895, several states enacted temporary laws whereby persons who had been voters, or descendants of those who had been voters, on January 1, 1867, could be registered notwithstanding their inability to ...

What was the rule of the grandfather clause?

It provided that those who had enjoyed the right to vote prior to 1866 or 1867, and their lineal descendants, would be exempt from recently enacted educational, property, or tax requirements for voting.

What is a simple sentence on grandfather?

[M] [T] My grandfather is very healthy. [M] [T] He is afraid of his grandfather. [M] [T] He reminds me of my grandfather. [M] [T] My grandfather gave me a birthday present.

What is the grandfather rule simplified?

The Grandfather Rule is a method of determining the ultimate percentage of Filipino ownership in a corporation by “drilling down” or “looking through” the layers of shareholdings until the actual beneficial ownership is ascertained.

What was the main effect of the grandfather clauses?

Because former slaves had not been granted the right to vote until the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified in 1870, these clauses effectively excluded blacks from the vote. At the same time, grandfather clauses assured the right to vote to many impoverished, ignorant, and illiterate whites.

What is a modern example of grandfathered in?

For example, if the location of a homeowner's driveway crosses a property line and encroaches onto a neighbor's land, the homeowner may look to a prior version of the municipal code to figure out whether or not the width of the driveway was proper when it was constructed.

What is the grandfathering rule?

A Grandfather clause is a provision in which old rules continue to apply to certain existing conditions while new rules will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from the new rules are said to have grandfathered rights or to have been grandfathered in.

What can I say instead of grandfathered?

Inclusive replacements companies may use instead “grandfathered” include “exempted,” “excused,” “preapproved,” “preauthorized,” or “legacied.” As Maya Angelou so gracefully said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

What is an example of a grandfather clause?

1. The committee will not deny credit for any coursework (semester or quarter hours), CEU's, or time-in-service accumulated which satisfies the requirements under the 1987 standards for certificate renewals or upgrades.

Who did the grandfather clause benefit?

A half-dozen states passed laws that made men eligible to vote if they had been able to vote before African-Americans were given the franchise (generally, 1867), or if they were the lineal descendants of voters back then. This was called the grandfather clause.

What states passed the grandfather clause?

Thus, illiterate whites who could not pass a literacy test could vote; meanwhile, the number of registered black voters in Louisiana dropped from nearly 45% in 1896 to 4.0% in 1900. Mississippi, South Carolina, Alabama, and Virginia soon enacted their own grandfather clauses.

How does the grandfather rule work?

While the revised code doesn't indicate what the grandfathered process entails, the term usually means that a business or individual won't be subjected to the latest ordinance or law but can instead comply with preexisting laws.

What is the grandfathering policy?

What are grandfathering provisions. Grandfathering provisions enable a person to continue to have their circumstances assessed under the 'old rules', so they are not disadvantaged by the introduction of the 'new rules'.

Was the grandfather clause good or bad?

The grandfather clauses were eventually struck down as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by disenfranchising African American voters.