68 Wash. 2d 573 - Stacy v. Stacy’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. “The courts should, when awarding alimony at the divorce of a long marriage, consider and weigh the future earning capabilities of both parties and allow the wife such sums for whatever period of time seems right under all of the circumstances. Underwood v. Underwood, 162 Wash. 204, 209 , 298 Pac. 318 (1931). The necessities of the wife and the financial ability of the husband represent the fundamental criterion upon which the award rests. Hogberg v. Hogberg, 64 Wn.2d 617 , 393 P.2d 291 (1964). But there are numerous other factors which must be weighed, measured and adjusted to enable the court to apply this criterion. The final distribution of property between the spouses, the amount of child support and alimony, if any, all derive from a compound of many ingredients, including the age, health and employment history of the parties, their education, training and business or occupational experience, the prospects of future earnings, the ages, health and aptitudes of the children, and the amounts, nature and origin of the property to be divided, and the total property possessed by or likely to be acquired by the parties. And not to be ignored is the question of fault.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Groves v. Groves

2. “The future earning capabilities of the wife, if she has no other means of support, represent one of the important concerns of the courts in divorce cases, and must be considered in comparison to those of her husband. It would be manifestly unjust to leave the wife and children with a low and uncertain standard of living while the husband retains a much higher one.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 60 Wash. App. 51 - In the Matter of Marriage of Sheffer

3. “Should our conclusions differ from those of the trial court on matters of child support, alimony and property division, we will not substitute our judgment for that of the trial court unless an abuse of discretion seems manifest. Root v. Root, 64 Wn.2d 360 , 391 P.2d 962 (1964).”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 69 Wash. 2d 59 - Richardson v. Richardson