Stephens v. Adger’s Empirical Analysis
1955
Citation profile
24 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 24 later decisions — most recently June 1998
24 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 Succession of Beattie · Succession of Bush · Succession of Seals · 35 La. Ann. 865 - Wood v. Roane · Succession of Prejean
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 24 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““A nuncupative testament, under private signature, must be written by the testator himself, or by any other person from his dictation, or even by one of the witnesses, in presence of five witnesses residing in the place where the will is received, or of seven witnesses residing out of that place. Or it will suffice, if, in the presence of the same number of witnesses, the testator presents the paper on which he has written his testament or caused it to be written out of their presence, declaring to them that that paper contains his last will.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage““In either case, the testament must be read by the testator to the witnesses, or by one of the witnesses to the rest, in presence of the testator; it must be signed by the testator, if he knows how or is able to sign, and by the witnesses or at least by two of them, in case the others know not how to sign, and those of the witnesses who do not know how to sign, must affix their mark. This testament is subject to no other formality than those prescribed by this and the preceding article.””
1 later decision quote this exact passage“"[S]ubstantial compliance with formalities required in execution of wills is sufficient to sustain its validity, more especially where there is no suggestion or intimation of fraud, deception, undue influence, or mental incapacity."”
1 later decision quote this exact passage
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.