Schenk v. Schenk’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. “[Alimony pendente lite ] is an order for temporary support granted to a spouse during the pendency of a divorce or annulment proceeding. [Alimony pendente lite ] is designed to help the dependent spouse maintain the standard of living enjoyed while living with the independent spouse. Also, and perhaps more importantly, [alimony pendente lite ] is based on the need of one party to have equal financial resources to pursue a divorce proceeding when, in theory, the other party has major assets which are the financial sinews of domestic warfare. [Alimony pendente lite ] is thus not dependent on the status of the party as being a spouse or being remarried but is based, rather, on the state of the litigation.... [T]he purpose of [alimony pendente lite ] is to provide the dependent spouse equal standing during the course of the divorce proceeding.... [Alimony pendente lite ] focuses on the ability of the individual who receives the [alimony pendente lite ] during the course of the litigation to defend her/himself, and the only issue is whether the amount is reasonable for the purpose, which turns on the economic resources available to the spouse.”

   4 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. Cook, R. v. Cook, D. · 2017 Pa. Super. 218 - Carney, K. v. Carney, D.

2. “In Bold [v. Bold, 524 Pa. 487 , 574 A.2d 552 (1990) ], our Supreme Court found the doctrine [of equitable reimbursement] properly was applied where wife supported husband financially, annually contributing more than three times the amount husband contributed, for the first five years of the marriage while husband completed his post-graduate degree. Husband’s attainment of that degree resulted in a substantial increase in his earning capacity. Less than two years after husband graduated with a degree in ehiropractics, he asked wife to move out. The Court held that ‘separate and apart from the equitable distribution of marital property, consistent with fairness, the supporting spouse in a case such as this should be awarded equitable reimbursement....’ In Bold, there was insufficient marital property to compensate wife for her financial contributions to the marriage.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 2005 Pa. Super. 412 - Xinda Wang v. Zhiping Feng

3. “As for the court’s holding that wife is not entitled to APL for the time when she lived with boyfriend, we find no abuse of discretion. First, we note our agreement with husband that the court’s rationale in denying wife APL for the time she lived with her boyfriend appears not to be based simply upon her cohabitation, but rather upon her failure to prove her needs in defending herself in the divorce action...Alimony pendente lite is designed to be temporary and is available to those who demonstrate the need for maintenance and professional services during the pendency of the proceedings. Wife failed to demonstrate her need. Accordingly, we find no abuse of the court’s discretion.”

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