Mowery v. Coffman’s Empirical Analysis
1946
Citation profile
17 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 23 later decisions — most recently June 1996
17 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 Conrad v. Conrad's · Davis v. Kendall · Moore v. Holbrook · Rule v. First Nat'l Bank of Clifton Forge · American National Bank v. Ames
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.
“Since the decision in 1871 in May v. Joynes, 20 Gratt. (61 Va.) 692, it has been consistently held in Virginia that where the first taker is given absolute dominion over property, the attempted gift over to another "of what remains undisposed of," or the like, upon the first taker’s death, is void for repugnancy. This is so regardless of how clearly the testator may have expressed the intent to effect a gift over after the death of the first taker in whom he has vested a fee-simple estate. The remainder over is void, not because the Court does not perceive the testator’s intent, but because the attempted gift violates a fundamental rule or canon of property that after a donee has been given a fee in property, such fee cannot be qualified or limited by a gift over to another of such portion of the property as the donee may not have consumed or disposed cf. Mowery v. Coffman, supra, pages 494-495.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Wiggs v. Small““ ‘6. I give, devise and bequeath to my beloved wife, Virginia V. Rickard all my real and personal estate of any and every kind of which I shall die seized and possessed except as above disposed of with full authority to dispose of any part thereof that she may deem necessary for her support and maintenance. “ ‘7.1 will and direct that after the death of my said wife, if she survives me, my Executor hereinafter appointed, shall sell all my real and personal estate then remaining in such manner and at such reasonable time thereafter as he shall think best. Out of the proceeds of said sales I hereby will and direct that my said Executor pay all debts and burial expenses of my said wife, and the residue thereof I give and bequeath to . . . .’” 185 Va. at 492-93 , 39 S.E.2d at 286 .”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Pigg v. Haley
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.