Phelps v. Bookwalter’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

7 federal appellate · 1 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 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “When a surviving spouse dies, * * * no allowance shall be made under section 474.260 for his maintenance for any period after such death * * *.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Estate of Avery v. Commissioner · Bookwalter v. Phelps

2. “We are not at all sure that had we been sitting on a Missouri court we would have decided Monahan in the manner that it was decided. But we have no doubt about what a Missouri court did hold in Monahan. Nor do we have any doubt that no one connected with the drafting and passage of the new Probate Code ever dreamed that they were changing the rule of Monahan. We likewise are most doubtful that any Missouri court would hold that a single sentence in Section 474.300 was intended to and did in fact change the rule of Monahan. We are therefore required to find that the interest created by Section 474.260 is unaffected in substance by the language relating to that section in Section 474.300 and that the rule of decision announced in Monahan is still the law of Missouri, at least so far as the facts of this case involving a lump sum payment are concerned, and that plaintiff should prevail.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Bookwalter v. Phelps

3. “`It is certain that under the established rule of decision in this state the widow's allowances are regarded as her absolute property, and not to be considered as assets of the estate.'”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Bookwalter v. Phelps