- Sections
- P'ninat Mishpat
Backing Out of Relinquishing Rights to a Ketuba
Case:
Ruling: The wife is entitled to mezonot. Even if we were not to accept linkage between the financial elements and the get, the husband would have to carry out, in practice, his part of the agreement within thirty days by giving the 28,000 liras to implement the agreement. If she were unwilling to receive the money, the husband could do his share by putting the money in escrow in beit din’s control. In practice, only after the wife’s demand for mezonot and reconciliation did the husband show a willingness to pay the money. With the great devaluation in the currency in the meantime, it is inconceivable to leave that sum of money as her only financial rights.
Although the ruling could end here, we want to relate to the fundamental claim that there is not linkage between the get and the financial agreement. The sources that the husband’s lawyer brings from rulings of Rabbinate courts are not pertinent. One says that the woman’s relinquishing (mechila) of ketuba rights is binding even if no get is given, but that is said only when she explicitly made the mechila effective immediately. Even if there were a doubt on the matter, we would say that a doubtful mechila does not undo a definite existing obligation. In truth, though, both elements of the agreement were decided upon by the beit din as one whole unit and their implementations are inseparable.
A couple began adjudication, with the husband asking to give a get and the wife asking for reconciliation. The two finally agreed on a get and empowered beit din to come to a compromise ruling on finances. As a result, the wife was to receive, along with her get, 28,000 liras, with which she would have relinquished any claims for a ketuba payment. The couple did not carry out the get, and the wife is now (a year and a half later) asking for reconciliation, including mezonot (spousal support). She claims that they had been living, in the interim, as husband and wife. The husband denies they had been living in such a manner and wants the right to remarry. He says that since she agreed to divorce with a financial settlement, she already waived rights to the conditions of the ketuba, including mezonot, and he is ready to carry out the agreement, including giving a get. While the wife is capable of reneging on her agreement to be divorced, the husband claims that this should not affect the financial element of the agreement. The wife claims that the financial element is linked to the ending of the marriage and thus if the marriage will continue as she is demanding, the financial agreement is meaningless.
Ruling: The wife is entitled to mezonot. Even if we were not to accept linkage between the financial elements and the get, the husband would have to carry out, in practice, his part of the agreement within thirty days by giving the 28,000 liras to implement the agreement. If she were unwilling to receive the money, the husband could do his share by putting the money in escrow in beit din’s control. In practice, only after the wife’s demand for mezonot and reconciliation did the husband show a willingness to pay the money. With the great devaluation in the currency in the meantime, it is inconceivable to leave that sum of money as her only financial rights.
Although the ruling could end here, we want to relate to the fundamental claim that there is not linkage between the get and the financial agreement. The sources that the husband’s lawyer brings from rulings of Rabbinate courts are not pertinent. One says that the woman’s relinquishing (mechila) of ketuba rights is binding even if no get is given, but that is said only when she explicitly made the mechila effective immediately. Even if there were a doubt on the matter, we would say that a doubtful mechila does not undo a definite existing obligation. In truth, though, both elements of the agreement were decided upon by the beit din as one whole unit and their implementations are inseparable.

P'ninat Mishpat (658)
Various Rabbis
135 - A Guardian Relinquishing a Minor’s Rights to Child Support
136 - Backing Out of Relinquishing Rights to a Ketuba
137 - Dimei Mafteiach Rights to an Apartment
Load More

Making Up for Unpaid Employment Benefits – part II
based on ruling 79137 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Adar I 14 5782

Making Up for Unpaid Employment Benefits – part I
based on ruling 79137 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Adar I 5 5782

Making Up for Unpaid Employment Benefits – part III
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Adar I 21 5782

Disappointment with Arba Minim Sales Provisions – part III
based on ruling 74082 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts
Beit Din Eretz Hemda - Gazit | Iyar 2 5782

Various Rabbis
Various Rabbis including those of of Yeshivat Bet El, such as Rabbi Chaim Katz, Rabbi Binyamin Bamberger and Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblat and others.

Rent on Ruling Based on Unclaimed Claims
5773

Historical View of Rav Mordechai Yaakov Breish (Chelkat Yaakov)
5775

Thanking Hashem for a Variety of Valuable People
5773

Initiating a Din Torah Against the Plaintiff’s Will
5771
Days on Which Tachanun Is Not Recited
Chapter Twenty One-Part Three
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed | 5775

The Book and Sword Wrapped Together, Given from Heaven
Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Iyar 18 5777

The Torah’s Instructions to Non-Jews—The Laws of Bnei Noach
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5771
The Laws of Torah Study
part 1
Rabbi Eliezer Melamed | 5761

Dreams Of The Kotel
Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Iyar 24 5782
