Bullock v. Porter’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

18 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 18 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “Numerous cases hold that under the laws of this State, R.S.1939, Secs. 3498, 3500, Mo.R.S.A., [§§ 442.470 and 442.490, RSMo 1949] conveyances to one and his or her bodily heirs (creating an estate tail under the common law as in the instant deeds) carves out of a grant- or’s fee-simple estate certain lesser estates, viz.: first a life estate in the first taker; next a contingent remainder in those qualifying as ‘bodily heirs’ on the death of the first taker, while the fee, that is, the reversion, remains in the grantor, his assigns, heirs or devisees pending the determination under the original grant of its vesting or falling in for want of takers as ‘bodily heirs’ of said grantee for life. We need not repeat here what has been said in the adjudicated cases. So, under the authorities Nettie K. Mattingly took a life estate under the deeds in question and her son John a contingent remainder, the contingency of his estate becoming vested being his qualifying upon the death of Netti K. as her ‘bodily heir’....”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Hess v. Proffer