236 Mo. App. 1223 - Thomson v. Thomson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

16 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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““ ‘[T]he fact of marriage may be proved either by direct evidence or by circumstantial or presumptive evidence, and either by documentary evidence or by parol, and the sufficiency of the evidence to establish a marriage is governed by the general rules of evidence.’ ” 38 C.J. pages 1330,1331. “ ‘Independent of any direct or documentary evidence, a marriage may be circumstantially established by the fact that a man and woman have for a considerable period of time openly cohabited as husband and wife and recognized and treated each other as such, so that they are generally reputed to be married among those who have come in contact with them. Such circumstances justify a finding that at the commencement of the cohabitation the parties actually entered into a marriage; * * * ’ ” 38 C.J. page 1337. “ ‘If a marriage in fact is established by evidence or admission, it is presumed to be regular and valid, and the burden of adducing evidence to the contrary rests on the party who attacks it, even though it involves the proving of a negative.’ ” 38 C.J. 1325,1326. “ ‘ * * * where man and woman are living together as husband and wife, marriage should always be presumed. * * * A marriage which is once shown is presumed to have been in compliance with legal requirements as to its celebration.’ 35 Am.Jur. pages 303, 305.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. James v. James