772 So. 2d 52 - Anson v. Anson’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

15 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 15 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “1.The retained earnings account of a corporation is a bookkeeping account maintained to keep a historical record of net income, net losses, dividend distributions, and other matters affecting the equity of a corporation. It is not a cash or asset account, nor does it reflect any amounts of cash or funds available for distribution to stockholders. In fact, a corporation could have a balance in a retained earnings account, yet have no cash to pay any dividends. 2. A balance in a retained earnings account does not mean that dividends must be paid to stockholders. In order to conduct a business, a corporation m[u]st always maintain working capital, purchase fixed assets, maintain accounts receivable, and maintain inventory among other things, all of whieh[ ] reduces cash available for dividends. The extent to which these requirements must be maintained fluctuates from year to year. 3. A corporation is a recognized separate legal entity capable of owning its own assets and managing its own business. A stockholder has certain rights in a corporation, but those rights do not include a direct interest in any corporate asset or income nor do these rights include an interest in a corporate bookkeeping account.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the dissent
   e.g. Bair v. Bair · 911 So. 2d 1222 - Zold v. Zold