O'Donnell v. Halladay’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

2 federal appellate · 8 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “In order that there be an effective gift ... there must be a delivery to or for the benefit of the donee.... By 'deliver' in this sense is meant a surrender of possession of the property, or the symbol of the property, to the donee, with the intention and purpose of then vesting title in the donee”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Maldonado v. Maldonado · Long v. Turner

2. “Under the testimony there is no evidence of ... intention on the part of Derr... to give the deposit to O'Donnell. The purported ineffective will is no evidence of such intention. In fact, it negatives such an intention. A will evidences an intention to make a gift in the future.... The essence of a gift is an executed intention of the transfer of title. A will is without legal efficacy up to the moment of death. A gift causa mortis, revokable though it may be, operates in praesenti. If the deposit in question at the time and upon the death of Derr was not the property of O'Donnell he must fail herein.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dorman v. Arnold

3. “Gifts inter vivos have no reference to the future, and go into immediate and absolute effect.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Dorman v. Arnold