71 Md. App. 191 - Benkin v. Benkin’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

46 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 46 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. ““At the time of the divorce, Dr. Holston was an assistant professor at the University of Maryland Dental School. He also practiced dentistry through a faculty practice program at the school and held numerous consulting positions. His gross income was $87,880 in 1981 and $86,343 in 1982. Mrs. Holston, on the other hand, has not been employed since June 1967. She attended Mount St. Agnes College for approximately a year-and-a-half before gaining employment as a secretary. Her only employment experience has been as a secretary. When she left the job market in 1967, she was earning $5,000 per year as a secretary at the University of Maryland Medical School. At the time of trial, secretaries at the university were earning approximately $13,000 per year. Even if appellant, re-entering the job market after fifteen years, would be able to gain employment at a similar salary, her earnings would be less than 15 per cent those of appellee. There is nothing in the evidence to indicate that appellant would ever be able to eliminate or even substantially diminish such disparity. Assuming appellant used her three years of alimony to return to college, receive a degree and acquire a marketable skill, it is questionable whether after graduation she could earn a salary even approaching appellee’s earnings. Compounding the difficulty of obtaining an education and a marketable skill is the necessity to provide and care for five minor children. Reading the record, we see no reason to expect that ”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 77 Md. App. 750 - Wassif v. Wassif

2. “Appellant, a fifty-one year old woman, virtually inactive in the job market for almost twenty-five years, suffers from arthritis, a progressive condition. She will be fifty-six years old when the alimony award terminates. Reentry into the job market for a woman of fifty-six years, even in excellent health, is problematic. The military pension will begin in about five years and will provide Mrs. Benkin with approximately $400.00 per month. The government pension probably will not begin for ten to twelve years. Although the trial court may not have erred in refusing to award alimony for an indefinite period of time under (c)(1), we find no basis in the record for the five year limitation on alimony under the (c)(2) standard. On remand, the chancellor should consider and explain explicitly the reasons that favor or militate against an award of indefinite alimony under (c)(2). In reaching this outcome, we are not requiring the trial court to order an award of indefinite alimony, although that may be the ultimate conclusion of the trial court, after taking into consideration all the factors that we have set out above. Rather, we hold that there must be some relation between the length of the award and the conclusion of fact as to the income disparity made by the court.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 148 Md. App. 432 - Lee v. Lee