daf bit: Ketuvot 82

[cellio]

If a man divorces his wife he is required to pay her ketubah. In order to ensure that he can, the rabbis require him to set aside property to cover this possible debt. Today's daf discusses the case of levirate marriage: if a man dies before his wife has had a child, the torah calls for his brother to marry her to continue the family line. When that happens, the rabbis ask, who owes her ketubah -- the new husband, or the first husband's estate? The rabbis say the first husband's estate, because the second husband did not choose to marry her ("heaven provided his wife"), but if she is unable to collect, the second husband is liable, to make it hard for him to divorce her. (82b)

(Yes, they can get out of this marriage. I wonder how much levirate marriage ever happened, or happens.)

Comments

[kayre]

Hmm... so if the woman married brother #2 and had a son, the son would get the estate of #1 (because that's the whole point)... and if #2 subsequently divorced her, he'd have to pay out of his own goods?

[cellio]

I think the son gets #1's estate less enough to cover the ketubah in case #2 divorces her. If that doesn't work out for some reason (property decreases in value or never was valuable enough, theft, the son somehow manages to squander it, whatever), though, then #2 is still on the hook. Belt and suspenders, except that a belt probably really did fail somewhere along the line to prompt the extra precaution.

That's my read, anyway.