Mishnah
Mishnah

Halakhah for Ketubot 4:12

אַתְּ תְּהֵא יָתְבָא בְּבֵיתִי וּמִתְּזָנָא מִנִּכְסַי, כָּל יְמֵי מִגַּד אַלְמְנוּתִיךְ בְּבֵיתִי, חַיָּב, שֶׁהוּא תְנַאי בֵּית דִּין. כָּךְ הָיוּ אַנְשֵׁי יְרוּשָׁלַיִם כּוֹתְבִין. אַנְשֵׁי גָלִיל הָיוּ כוֹתְבִין כְּאַנְשֵׁי יְרוּשָׁלָיִם. אַנְשֵׁי יְהוּדָה הָיוּ כוֹתְבִין, עַד שֶׁיִּרְצוּ הַיּוֹרְשִׁים לִתֵּן לִיךְ כְּתֻבְּתִיךְ. לְפִיכָךְ אִם רָצוּ הַיּוֹרְשִׁין, נוֹתְנִין לָהּ כְּתֻבָּתָהּ וּפוֹטְרִין אוֹתָהּ:

[If he did not write in her <i>ketubah</i>], "You shall live in my house, and be fed out of my property, as long as you remain a widow in my house," he is, [nonetheless], obligated is [nevertheless] in force, as that is a [fixed] stipulation [enacted] by the court. [The above] is what the men of Jerusalem would write [in their <i>ketubot</i>]. The men of the Galilee would write like the men of Jerusalem. [however,] the men of Judea would write "[You shall live in my house, and be fed out of my property] until the heirs want to give you [the amount of] your <i>ketubah</i>." Therefore, if the heirs want, they [may] give her [the amount of] her <i>ketubah</i>, and dismiss her.

Gray Matter III

The husband is heir to his wife’s estate and takes precedence over all other heirs. There is considerable debate as to whether this Halachah is a Torah law or a rabbinic enactment.3See Bava Batra 109b; also see Rambam, Hilchot Nachalot 1:8 and the comments of the Ra’avad, Maggid Mishneh, and Kesef Mishneh there. The wife, in contrast, does not inherit her husband’s estate (Bava Batra 111b). She is entitled to be supported out of the husband’s estate only until she remarries or demands payment of her ketubah (Ketubot 4:12).
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