Lang v. Commissioner’s Empirical Analysis
304 U.S. 264 · 1938
Citation profile
107 federal appellate · 6 district · 22 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 218 later decisions (8 by the Supreme Court) — most recently May 1994 · most notably Morgan v. Commissioner (1940), Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. The Chase Manhattan Bank, Successor of the Chase National Bank of the City of New York, Trustee and Alleged Transferee of Marie Elizabeth Moran, the Chase Manhattan Bank, Sucessor of the Chase National Bank of the City of New York, Trustee and Alleged Transferee of Marie Elizabeth Moran v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1958)
107 federal appellate · 6 district · 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.
Appellate journey
reviewedthe decision below (from Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals)
Relationships
Relies on Blair v. Commissioner · Poe v. Seaborn · Helvering v. Bliss · Occidental Life Insurance v. Powers
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 218 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““1. -Must the total or only one-half of the proceeds collected under the insurance policies issued after marriage on the deceased husband’s life be reckoned as part of his gross estate, the wife being sole beneficiary and all premiums having been paid from community funds? To this we answer, only one-half. “2. Must the total proceeds of the policy upon a decedent’s life, taken out after marriage, children being the sole beneficiaries, and all premiums having been paid from community funds, be reckoned as part of his gross estate; or, in the circumstances, .is only one-half to be included? To this we reply, only one-half should be included. “3. Must all proceeds of the policies issued before marriage upon the deceased husband’s life be reckoned as part of his gross estate, the wife being sole beneficiary, the first premium having been paid from his separate funds, and all subsequent ones from community funds; or, in the circumstances, is the total received under the policy reduced by one-half of that proportion of such total which premiums satisfied with community funds bear to all premiums paid, the amount to be regarded as belonging to the gross estate? To this we reply, only the total proceeds less one-half of the. indicated proportion becomes part of the gross estate.””
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“(g) To the extent of the amount receivable by the executor as insurance under policies taken out by the decedent upon his own life; and to the extent of the excess over $40,000 of the amount receivable by all other beneficiaries as insurance under policies taken out by the decedent upon his own life.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“This statement is not accurate and conflicts with what we have said. Poe v. Seaborn, 282 U.S. 101, 111, 112 , 51 S.Ct 58, 59 , 75 L.Ed. 239 ; Blair v. Commissioner, 300 U.S. 5, 9, 10 , 57 S.Ct. 330, 331, 332 , 81 L.Ed. 465 .”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.