Wenig v. Commissioner’s Empirical Analysis
177 F.2d 62 · 1949
Citation profile
23
cited by 23 later decisions
May 1955
most recently cited
16 federal appellate ·
Relationships
Relies on Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Culbertson · Commissioner v. Tower · Lusthaus v. Commissioner · Lawton v. Commissioner · Weizer v. Commissioner
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.
““ * * * We find no basis of substance for deeming Mrs. Wenig’s repeated, vital contributions of capital and services to be selfless donations. It is true, as the, Tax Court observed, that a wife is interested in the success of her husband’s business, as it provides the livelihood of the family, and it is also true that ideas of employees or friends may often be the source of substantial profit to the owner of the business. But those philosophical generalities cannot be taken to negative a property interest in a wife who contributed all of the initial capital which was put into the business, who twice rescued the business from failure, and who alone designed one of the two products manufactured and sold and helped in material respects to design the other. An assumption that a wife wishes her husband success cannot deny her a property interest when her capital and her services are in major part the creative force from which the profits came. When a wife supplies the money with which her husband does business, some strong evidence is necessary to support a conclusion that she was not thereby a participant in the venture. We recall at this important juncture that we are not testing the technicalities of partnership under general commercial law; participation in any sort of joint venture is sufficient status. Assumption, without evidence, that a wife’s contribution of money and ideas is merely wifely assistance to her husband as such, however justified a century ago, is outmoded a”
2 later decisions 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.