Biggs v. Biggs’s Empirical Analysis
1990
Citation profile
5 federal appellate · 1 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 26 later decisions — most recently September 2018 · most notably In Re Sampson (1993), Dressler v. Dressler (In Re Dressler) (1996)
5 federal appellate · 1 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
Applies 11 U.S.C. § 523
Relies on Butler v. United States · Stewart v. Kutner · Harrell v. Sharp · Shaver v. Shaver · Francis v. Francis
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 26 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“A discharge ... of this title does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor, for alimony to, maintenance for, or support of such spouse or child, in connection with a separation agreement, divorce decree or other order of a court of record, determination made in accordance with State or territorial law by a governmental unit, or property settlement agreement, but not to the extent that such debt includes a liability designated as alimony, maintenance, or support, unless such liability is actually in the nature of alimony, maintenance, or support.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[w]hether a particular obligation constitutes alimony, maintenance, or support ... is a matter of federal bankruptcy law, not state law.”
2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“'[W]hat may appear to be a mere division of assets may in fact ... contain a substantial element of alimony-substitute, support or maintenance, however termed.' Thus, we must place substance over form to determine the true nature and purpose of the award, regardless of the label used.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majority
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.