Rees v. . Williams’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 9 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 11 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “There are cases decided in this court which seem to sustain the plaintiffs' view that the first taker will get a fee absolute at the death of the testator, if he survives so long; but they are cases where the wills were executed prior to 1827, or are founded upon the principle stated in Hilliard v. Kearney, 45 N.C. 221, as to survivorship between tenants in common. More recent decisions are to the effect that in such limitations the term `dying with or without issue' refers to a death at any time, whether before or after the testator's death, and they are based, at least principally, upon the change in the law which was made by the act of 1827 * * which requires limitations of this kind to be so interpreted as to take effect when the first taker shall die, not having issue living at the time of his death, and this, of course, without reference to the time when such death may occur. The clear and exact meaning of this statute, and its direct application to a state of facts such as we have here, was decisively set at rest in the case of Buchanan v. Buchanan, 99 N.C. 308, 5 S.E. 430, * * *”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Cabarrus Bank and Trust Company v. Finlayson

2. “The testator in the will before us limits the property to one son upon the death of the other without issue, and with no other qualifying restrictions. How, then, by construction, can such a restriction as requires the death to occur before the death of the testator be introduced into the clause, if it be made to speak what the testator has not said? Does not the testator intend that Andrew shall have all if Richmond dies, and whenever he dies with no child to succeed him? * * Annex the explanatory words of the statute * * * so that it will read, `Should Richmond die without a bodily heir, not having such heir living at the time of his death' can there be any serious doubt as to the meaning of the clause, and especially when the act declares that the ulterior limitation shall then take effect? If it ties up the contingency to the death, as an independent fact, so as to avoid too remote a limitation under former rulings, why should it not equally exclude an interpretation which refers to an earlier period for the vesting?”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Cabarrus Bank and Trust Company v. Finlayson