64 Wis. 2d 110 - Heiting v. Heiting’s Empirical Analysis
1974
Citation profile
16 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 16 later decisions — most recently May 2010
16 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 45 Wis. 2d 378 - Lacey v. Lacey · Larson v. Larson · 46 Wis. 2d 682 - Molloy v. Molloy · 34 Wis. 2d 451 - Gauer v. Gauer · 27 Wis. 2d 307 - Heffernan v. Heffernan
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 16 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
““This court is firmly committed to the principle that the findings of fact and orders of the trial court concerning the custody of minor children in divorce actions will not be set aside or reversed unless clearly against the great weight and clear preponderance of the evidence, or unless there is a clear abuse of discretion. “ ‘Custody matters are highly discretionary and the rule is well established that the trial court’s determination will not be upset in the absence of a clear abuse of discretion.’ Belisle v. Belisle (1965), 27 Wis. (2d) 317, 321, 322, 134 N. W. (2d) 491 . “ ‘As has been repeatedly held by this court, the matter of the custody of children in divorce actions is a matter peculiarly within the jurisdiction of the trial court, who has seen the parties, had an opportunity to observe their conduct, and is in much better position to determine where the best interests of the child lie than is an appellate court.’ Adams v. Adams (1922), 178 Wis. 522, 525 , 190 N. W. 359 ; Hamachek v. Hamachek (1955), 270 Wis. 194, 202 , 70 N. W. (2d) 595 .»”
1 later decision quote this exact passage“In making these rather delicate determinations as well as a proper evaluation of the testimony and the demean- or of the parties and other witnesses as to the grounds for divorce, the trial judge, by his face-to-face observations, is in a much superior position to make the findings and conclusions than the members of an appellate court who depend solely upon an impersonal record.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage““. . . Challenges to custody orders are usually characterized as an abuse of judicial discretion. However, where it is claimed the trial court applied the wrong rule of law it can be error.””
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.