Hancock v. Butler’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

73 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 73 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““This result would follow, although the deed might express that the first taker should have a life estate only. It is founded on the use of the technical words, ‘heirs,’ or ‘heirs of his body,’ in the deed, or the will. “The rule in Shelley’s Case is said to be a rule of law. It is really an organic rule, entering into the creation of the estate of inheritance. The whole must embrace all its parts. The existence of the whole being established, or taken for granted, it cannot be true that a part of the whole is wanting; that is, if it takes four sides to complete a mansion, its completion being admitted, by a law in physics, it cannot be true that the mansion has three sides only. In that sense, it is a rule of law.””

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Sybert v. Sybert · Crist v. Morgan

2. ““He [the grantor] had no right (terms are used applicable to real estate, so as to convey the idea) to reduce the estate, conferred on Josiah, to a life estate, if in the same deed he made the issue of Josiah derive an estate in fee or fee tail from and through Josiah, as his heirs, by descent.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Crist v. Morgan