Wheeler v. Wheeler’s Empirical Analysis
1988
Citation profile
15 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 17 later decisions — most recently March 2007
15 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 Weir v. Weir · Becker v. Becker · Jondahl v. Jondahl · Eberhart v. Eberhart · Corbin v. Corbin
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 17 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“"To modify spousal support, circumstances must have changed materially.... Slight, or even moderate, changes in the parties' relative incomes are not necessarily material.... `Material change' means something which substantially affects the financial abilities or needs of a party.... The reason for changes in income must be examined, ... as well as the extent that the changes were contemplated at the time of the agreed decree."”
3 later decisions quote this exact passagee.g. Meyer v. Meyer · Wheeler v. Wheeler““When a divorce is granted, the court shall make such equitable distribution of the real and personal property of the parties as may seem just and proper, and may compel either of the parties to provide for the maintenance of the children of the marriage, and to make such suitable allowances to the other party for support during life or for a shorter period as to the court may seem just, having regard to the circumstances of the parties respectively. The court from time to time may modify its orders in these respects.” (Emphasis added.)”
1 later decision quote this exact passagee.g. Schaff v. Schaff
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.