J.D.A. v. A.B.A.’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Obviously, during a lengthy marriage, a couple’s standard of living varies, particularly as one or both spouses progress in their careers and achieve higher earnings. In assessing the marital standard of living, a trial court should consider the period leading up to the divorce if that period accurately reflects the manner in which the parties would have been expected to live had they continued to be married. See generally Pickett v. Pickett, 723 So.2d 71 (Ala.Civ.App.1998) (plurality) (holding that wife, who had been primary wage earner for first 10 years of the parties’ marriage, had received inadequate alimony to sustain the luxurious standard of living established during the last 6 years of the marriage after husband became a physician).””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. McCarron v. McCarron

2. ““[T]he wife’s estimation of the amount of periodic alimony that was required to guarantee her the same standard of liv- ■ ing that she had enjoyed during the marriage ignored ‘the impact [that] an award of periodic alimony [would] have on the financial condition of the [husband] and his ... ability to maintain the parties’ former marital lifestyle for himself.’ Shewbart v. Shewbart, 64 So.3d 1080, 1088 (Ala.Civ.App.2010) (citing O’Neal v. O’Neal, 678 So.2d [161] at 164 [ (Ala.Civ.App.1996) ]) (emphasis added).- ‘In considering the [husband’s] ability to pay [periodic alimony], the trial court should take into account all the financial obligations of the [husband], including those obligations created by the divorce judgment.’ Id.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Damrich v. Damrich

3. “'[w]hen the combined adjusted gross income exceeds the uppermost limit of the child support schedule, the amount of child support awarded must rationally relate to the reasonable and necessary needs of the child, taking into account the lifestyle to which the child was accustomed and the standard of living the child enjoyed before the divorce, and must reasonably relate to the obligor's ability to pay for those needs.' " Dyas v. Dyas , 683 So.2d 971 , 973-74 (Ala. Civ. App. 1995) (some emphasis added; footnote omitted).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 260 So. 3d 55 - Myers v. Myers