Thomas v. Thomas’s Empirical Analysis
1983
Citation profile
9 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 9 later decisions — most recently February 2006
9 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 312 So. 2d 726 - Finn v. Finn · 58 So. 2d 689 - Perla v. Perla · Haddox v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Co. · 415 So. 2d 738 - Cronebaugh v. Van Dyke · 308 So. 2d 24 - Daugherty v. Daugherty
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 9 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“In the instant case, it is clear that the final judgment of dissolution was entered well after the effective date of the statute, allowing for a duty to support only until age 18 absent a showing of dependency. The children here were ages 15 and 11 at the time the final judgment was entered, with no physical or mental deficiencies present in the record. The trial court allowed child support in the form of the use and possession of the marital home by the custodial parent to continue beyond majority as long as the youngest child was in college. The trial court apparently saw the attendance at college as a form of dependency, requiring the additional support. We disagree. Generally, the obligation of a parent to support a child ceases when the child reaches majority, but an exception arises when the child, because of physical or mental deficiencies, is unable to support himself. Perla v. Perla, 58 So.2d 689 (Fla. 1952). Attendance at college does not rise to the level of dependence envisioned by the Supreme Court in Perla , so as to require a divorced parent to pay for a child's education. This view has been adopted by the other district courts of appeal in this state, despite dictum to the contrary found in Finn. This comports with the principle that a divorced parent does not have a greater legal obligation to his child than does a parent who has not been divorced. Here, there has been no showing of any dependency as that term is defined by Perla , and the mere fact that chil”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“(2) This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years; and any crippled child as defined in chapter 391 shall receive benefits under the provisions of said chapter until age 21, the provisions of this section to the contrary notwithstanding. (3) This section shall operate prospectively and not retrospectively, and shall not affect the rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“`so long as the youngest child continues to be a fulltime college student making satisfactory progress towards his undergraduate degree'”
1 later decision 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.