Helvering v. Leonard’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

56 federal appellate · 3 district · 9 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 141 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““* * * We recently stated in Helvering v. Fitch, supra, 309 U.S. 149 [156], 60 S.Ct. [427], 430, 84 L.Ed. 665 , that under this statutory scheme escape from the rule of Douglas v. Willcuts, supra, may be had only on ‘clear and convincing proof’ that ‘local law and the alimony trust have given the divorced husband a full discharge and leave no continuing obligation however contingent.’ * * * “As we have seen, the divorce decree approved, affirmed and made part of the judgment the separation agreement providing for -the ‘support and maintenance’ of the wife. * * * In Helvering v. Fitch, supra, we stated that where the divorced husband desires to avoid the general rule expressed in Douglas v. Willcuts, supra, he carries a distinct burden of establishing not by mere inference and conjecture but by ‘clear and convincing proof’ that local law and the alimony trust have given him a full discharge. We do not think that respondent has sustained that burden. “* * * We need not decide whether the court retained the power to require respondent to make additional payments to the wife in case, say, all the securities in trust turned out to be worthless. All we do hold is that respondent has not shown by ‘clear and convincing proof’ that the court lacks the power to add to his personal obligations in any such circumstances.””

   3 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Helvering v. Fuller · Daggett v. Commissioner