Mardis, Administratrix v. Steen’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 79 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““Where manual delivery is not practicable a transfer may be made by assignment or by other writing or token which will indicate a present intention to pass right of possession to the donee. Whether there was sufficient proof of a transfer of possession in this case so as to vest title in defendant as survivor must depend upon the construction of the writing on the signature card accompanying the bank deposit. “Since the Act of March 31,1812, 5 Sm. L. 395, the mere fact that a joint ownership of property is created does not, as matter of law, give the survivor the entire ownership in the property; but it has been held that this legislation limited only the legal presumption which formerly followed, and placed no restriction on the freedom of the parties to provide by agreement or otherwise that the right of succession, which existed previous to the act, should apply. In other words, survivorship, as an incident of an estate held by joint tenants, is still lawful and the question is now one of intent, and no particular words are necessary except that the intent be expressed with sufficient clearness to overcome the presumption arising from the statute.””

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. 106 Pa. Super. 571 - In Re Estate of I.L. Crist