Downs v. Downs’s Empirical Analysis
1928
Citation profile
23 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 23 later decisions — most recently June 1994
23 state decisions
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Polley v. Polley · Buckner v. Buckner · Stewart v. Stewart · Heinmuller v. Heinmuller · Taylor v. Taylor
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 23 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“There is no sufficient basis for the claim in the cross-bill that Mrs. Downs has an interest in the home property as a tenant by the entirety.... The interlineation of her name in the deed after its execution and delivery was ineffectual to make her a grantee of the property. There can be no doubt that the deed had then been fully executed and finally delivered by the grantors. After signing and acknowledging the instrument, they had left it with the title company, which was acting solely as the agent of the grantee whom the deed then designated. It was thereafter beyond the power of the grantors to recall the deed or to modify its provisions. The testimony does not prove with reasonable certainty that they actually consented to the subsequent insertion of Mrs. Downs’ name in the deed, but such consent could not affect the title of which they had divested themselves by an irrevocable conveyance. The purpose which the grantee afterwards manifested to invest his wife with an equal interest in the title could not be effectuated by the informal and irregular method described.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority“[T]itle was conveyed to [Mr. Downs] upon his payment in full of the purchase price. The deed was executed by the grantors on December 26th at the office of the title company employed by Mr. Downs in the transaction, and was left with the company to be filed for public registration. On the following day Mr. Downs, in pursuance of his wife’s request that she be joined with him as a grantee of the property, called at the title company’s office and stated his desire to have his wife’s name inserted in the deed in order that they might hold the title as tenants by the entireties. He was informed, by the official who had been acting in the matter, that such a change could be made with the consent of the grantors. The proposed interlineation was subsequently made and the deed recorded.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.