Reference for Ketubot 9:2
מִי שֶׁמֵּת וְהִנִּיחַ אִשָּׁה וּבַעַל חוֹב וְיוֹרְשִׁין, וְהָיָה לוֹ פִקָּדוֹן אוֹ מִלְוֶה בְּיַד אֲחֵרִים, רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן אוֹמֵר, יִנָּתְנוּ לַכּוֹשֵׁל שֶׁבָּהֶן. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אֵין מְרַחֲמִין בַּדִּין, אֶלָּא יִנָּתְנוּ לַיּוֹרְשִׁין, שֶׁכֻּלָּן צְרִיכִין שְׁבוּעָה וְאֵין הַיּוֹרְשִׁין צְרִיכִין שְׁבוּעָה:
If one died, and left a wife, a creditor, and heirs, and he had a pledge or a loan (owing him) in the hands of others, R. Tarfon says: It is to be given to the "weakest" among them. [Some explain: to the one whose deed is latest, he being the "weakest" of all, not being able to seize property which had been sold before him (i.e., before the date of the deed.) Others explain: to the (kethubah of the) woman. She is called "weakest," it not being proper for a woman, as it is for a man, to seek out a dead man's property and to inquire where he has land. And even though the chattel of the orphans is not bound to the creditor or to the kethubah of the woman, here, where it is not in their domain, R. Tarfon holds that it is taken from the debtor's hand or from the hand of the one who has the pledge, and given to the creditor or to the (woman for her) kethubah.] R. Akiva says: "There is no mercy in judgment," and it is given to the heirs [and seizure (by the others) is of no avail.] For all require an oath, but the heirs do not require an oath. [For if one comes to collect from the property of orphans, he can do so only with an oath. And so long as they (the claimants) do not swear, we do not know whether they are owed anything at all. Therefore, when the father dies, the heirs inherit it (the loan or the pledge), and it is in their domain.]