246 Pa. Super. 536 - Hellman v. Hellman’s Empirical Analysis
1977
Citation profile
22 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 22 later decisions — most recently November 1994
22 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 Hawkins v. . Hawkins · Commonwealth ex rel. Fryling v. Fryling · 199 Pa. Super. 541 - Commonwealth ex rel. Bassion v. Bassion · 213 Pa. Super. 515 - Commonwealth Ex Rel. Young v. Young · 173 Pa. Super. 171 - Commonwealth Ex Rel. Brobst v. Brobst
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 22 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““We agree with the (husband) that an act of adultery on the part of the husband does not give a wife, unrestrained by morality or personal dignity, a right to act forever in a licentious manner and still command support from her husband. Support laws, however, were not promulgated for the purpose of rewarding a wife’s good behavior. An order of support seeks to secure a reasonable allowance for the maintenance of the wife so that she may not become a charge of the state.... Thus, although it is true that the only cause which will justify a husband’s refusal to support his wife is conduct on her part, such as adultery, which would be a valid ground for divorce ... we must not focus our attention solely upon the wife’s conduct in reviewing her right to support. We must look at all the circumstances present in each case.” Id. at 543 , 371 A.2d at 967 . (citations omitted)”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“[A] single act of adultery [on the part of wife], possibly committed at a time long past, and sincerely repented of, should not enable the husband to cast her off without support, though he may be living a life of continuous and [open] profligacy.”
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.