Lankford v. Wright’s Empirical Analysis
1997
Citation profile
20 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 20 later decisions — most recently August 2022
20 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 Casey v. Cavaroc · Thompson v. Soles · Ladd v. Estate of Kellenberger · 106 Ill. App. 3d 635 - In Re Estate of Edwards · Wilson v. Anderson
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 20 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“[t]he doctrine is not intended to replace statutory requirements or to create the parent-child relationship; it simply recognizes the foster child's right to inherit from the person or persons who contracted to adopt the child and who honored that contract in all respects except through formal statutory procedures.”
3 later decisions quote this exact passage“[ Whe again note that an overwhelming majority of states that have addressed the question have recognized and applied the doctrine [of equitable adoption]. More importantly, it is the unique role of the courts to fashion equitable remedies to protect and promote the principles of equity such as those at issue in this case. We are convinced that acting in an equitable manner in this case does not interfere with the legislative scheme for adoption, contrary to the assertions of the dissent. Recognition of the doctrine of equitable adoption does not create a legal adoption, and therefore does not impair the statutory procedures for adoption.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage“(1) an express or implied agreement to adopt the child, (2) reliance on that agreement, (8) performance by the natural parents of the child in giving up custody, (4) performance by the child in living in the home of the foster 5 parents and acting as their child, (5) partial performance by the foster parents in taking the child into their home and treating the child as their own, and (6) the intestacy of the foster parents.”
2 later decisions 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.