What Is a "Mother Hubbard Clause"?

I just learned about it today.

Comments

[kkoshkin]

In a final judgment, it is the clause disposing of all relief not expressly addressed in the order.

In a real-estate conveyance, it is the clause that tidies up small imperfections in the description of the real estate (usually including "all appurtenances" and other magic language.

"Mother Hubbard" clauses may have different meanings in other contexts as well.

[Krayt]

appurtenances

Google search gives the definition, but the pictures are all of drug paraphenalia. It kind of fits as a stretch.

[Bored Lawyer]

I practice trademark law, among other things, and the most fundamental TM case that you must know is United Drug Co. v. Theodore Rectanus Co., 248 U.S. 90 (1918), where the Court stated:

There is no such thing as property in a trademark except as a right appurtenant to an established business or trade in connection with which the mark is employed. The law of trademarks is but a part of the broader law of unfair competition; the right to a particular mark grows out of its use, not its mere adoption; its function is simply to designate the goods as the product of a particular trader and to protect his goodwill against the sale of another's product as his, and it is not the subject of property except in connection with an existing business.

So, yeah, we hear the word "appurtenant" a lot.

[Eddy]

Theodore Rectanus company, you say?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDqsgbtpDLk

[Eddy]

I just recovered from learning that there ain't no sanity clause, and now you're telling me about Mother Hubbard clauses?

[MatthewSlyfield]

"I just recovered from learning that there ain’t no sanity clause"

This is my pet Siberian tiger. I call him sanity. I you ask nice, I'm sure he'll show you his claws.

[Eddy]

I don't want to provoke him, that would be in sanity.

[Krychek_2]

And when he goes to the beach, does he get sandy claws?

[Bored Lawyer]

So what is a Mother Hubbard Clause? Is it a promise to feed your dog, and make sure to always have a bone handy?

[RichNet]

Mother Hubbard clause is the clause in real estate that allows a single to X family home to rent out apartment without being subject to HUD and other regulations on point.

[William_Zanzinger]

No, you’re thinking of Mrs. Murphy:
https://fairhousing.foxrothschild.com/2017/07/articles/discrimination/what-is-the-mrs-murphy-exception-to-the-fair-housing-act/