Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1839

Cummings v. Cummings

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · Decided July 15, 1839

8 Watts 366

Cases that cite this one

9 later published cases cite this decision.

Cirucci v. Brasili (Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas 1951)
Pierce v. Pierce (Wis. 1885)
State ex rel. Smith v. Martin (Mo. Ct. App. 1885)
Seitz's Appeal (Pa. 1878)
Hall v. Finch (Wis. 1871)
Duffey v. Duffey (Pa. 1863)
Hertzog v. Hertzog (Pa. 1857)
Guion v. Guion's Administrator (Mo. 1852)
Gossner's Estate (Pa. 1841)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam.

The presumption from a mother’s maintenance of her child, whatever be the means of either, is that she furnished *367it as a gift. If the child has nothing to recur to, the presumption is irresistible; and if it even has an estate, her omission to have it applied by a guardian, is equally so. Perhaps one case could not be picked out of a thousand, in which the presumption would not accord with the fact. They who would set bounds to the generosity of a mother, know, but little about the impulses of such a parent. The presumption, therefore, being legitimately founded in the natural course of things, prevails till it is rebutted; and as the plaintiff did not offer a prima facie case, the evidence was rightly excluded.

Judgment affirmed.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.