Brock v. Kirkpatrick’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

1 federal appellate · 7 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 8 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““In Huggins v. Oliver, 21 S. C. 159 , Mr. Chief Justice Mclver, after a very thorough and discriminative review of the leading cases, * * * lays down the following rule: ‘That while, as a general proposition, it is true that lands of an estate may be sold under a judgment recovered against the administrator upon a debt of-the intestate, yet if the lands have passed into the actual and exclusive possession of the heirs before the judgment has been recovered, and before any lien has thus been fixed upon them, they can no longer be sold under such judgment, and can only be reached by the usual' proceedings to subject real estate in the hands of the heir to the payment of the debts of the ancestor, to which proceedings the heir would, of course, be a necessary party. Without this qualification of tile general rule stated in De Urphey v. Kelson [1 Brev. (S. C.) 289], it would be impossible to reconcile the various decisions to which we have referred, but with it the cases may all be reconciled.’ We cannot do better than announce this excellent rule as the logical result of iho numerous decisions on this vexed question. The doctrine which the rule embodies is clearly indicated in Gilliland v. Caldwell, 1 S. C. 198 . The statute of George II does not mate the descended lands in possession of the heirs liable for the payment of -the debts of the ancestor; but the cause of action must be established against them in a suit to which they are parties, and they are not bound by a judgment”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Trimble v. Rice

2. “It thus appears that lands descended or devised cannot be subjected to payment of ancestor's debts, when by partition or other acts of law the character of the possession is changed and becomes exclusive in the heirs or devisees,”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
   e.g. Brock v. Kirkpatrick