Definition
A formulaic phrase used in deeds and other instruments to acknowledge the existence of additional, unspecified consideration beyond whatever has been expressly named. The full phrase — "divers other good causes and considerations" — functions as a catch-all recital, signaling that the grantor or obligor was moved to act by multiple inducements, not all of which are enumerated. It does not replace a statement of consideration; it supplements one.
The phrase is most commonly found in older deed forms where a named sum of money or a specific service is recited as consideration, followed by this phrase to cover any remaining motivations — sentimental, relational, or otherwise — that the drafter did not wish to leave outside the instrument's four corners.
A companion phrase, DIVERS SUMS OF MONEY, performs a related function in pleading: it allows a plaintiff to allege indebtedness arising from multiple, unspecified monetary obligations without itemizing each one in the declaration.
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Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): "Divers" as an adjective means various or several; archaic in general English, though it survives in formal and legal prose. "Considerations" in common use means thoughts, factors weighed, or reasons for a decision.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): "Divers" — more than one, but not a great number; sundry; various. "Consideration" — the act of considering; thoughtful attention; also, in commerce, the price or motive inducing a contract.
The gap between common and legal meaning here is narrow but consequential. In ordinary English, the phrase reads simply as "various good reasons." In law, "consideration" is a term of art — the bargained-for exchange required to make a promise enforceable — and its recital in a deed carries legal consequences. The phrase therefore does real legal work: it is not mere rhetorical padding but a deliberate attempt to establish that valid legal consideration exists, even if its precise nature is left unstated.
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Common Confusion
This phrase is sometimes dismissed as purely ceremonial boilerplate, but that reading understates its function. In jurisdictions and periods where a deed required consideration to be valid against certain challenges, the recital of "divers other good causes and considerations" was a recognized drafting device to foreclose arguments that the only stated consideration was inadequate or had failed. It is not the same as a mere "love and affection" recital, which historically could not support a deed against creditors in certain circumstances. The distinction matters when reading older instruments in conveyancing disputes or fraudulent conveyance analysis.
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Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering this phrase in historical deeds, indentures, or pleadings should treat it as a signal, not a throwaway. Its presence indicates:
1. The drafter anticipated potential challenges to the adequacy or completeness of consideration and sought prophylactic coverage.
2. The instrument likely dates from a period — roughly pre-20th century — when formal recitals of consideration were standard drafting practice in common law jurisdictions, particularly in Maryland, Virginia, and English-influenced courts.
3. In pleading contexts, the companion phrase "divers sums of money" served to aggregate claims without itemization, a practice scrutinized under more demanding modern pleading standards.
Trap for historical source researchers: Rapalje & Lawrence's entry is truncated — it appears as the tail end of the preceding phrase's entry rather than a freestanding definition. The Maryland citation (1 Harr. & J. 527) and the digest reference (8 Com. Dig. 1044) are the substantive anchors. Researchers who locate only the dictionary entry without tracing those sources will miss the doctrinal content entirely.
Corpus connections: This phrase clusters with other consideration recitals — "for and in consideration of," "good and valuable consideration," "love and affection" — and with deed formulas in conveyancing practice guides. It also appears in fraudulent conveyance analysis, where courts examined whether recited consideration was real or nominal.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Rapalje & Lawrence is the sole shelf source for this entry, and their treatment is fragmentary — the phrase appears as a subheading within a larger entry block, followed by bare citations without explanatory text. The Maryland report citation and the reference to Comyn's Digest are the substantive anchors; the dictionary itself offers no definition proper.
The absence of a developed entry is itself instructive: by the late 19th century, when Rapalje & Lawrence was compiled, this phrase was sufficiently entrenched in practice that no explanation was thought necessary. It was formula, and practitioners were expected to recognize it as such. Modern researchers should not interpret the sparse entry as evidence that the phrase lacks legal significance.
Comyn's Digest (8 Com. Dig. 1044) would be the more complete historical source for the doctrine underlying such recitals. Researchers needing the full doctrinal context should consult that work directly.
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Jurisdictional Note
The phrase and its doctrinal significance are rooted in English common law conveyancing, carried most fully into American practice through Maryland and Virginia deed forms. Its functional importance varied depending on whether a jurisdiction treated a deed as requiring consideration for validity against third parties. In states that adopted recording acts with constructive notice provisions, the adequacy of recited consideration became a distinct inquiry from the formal sufficiency of the recital itself.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See: Contract Formation (consideration doctrine and recital practice); Deed Recitals (formal requirements and their legal effect in conveyancing).
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