Yevamos 15:4-5

Yevamos 15:4

Everyone is believed if they testify that a woman’s husband has died except for her mother-in-law, her husband’s sister, her co-wife, her brother-in-law’s wife and her husband’s daughter (because we are concerned that they have ulterior motives that would provide an incentive to lie). These women are believed if they deliver a get from the woman’s husband because the handwriting on the document is a form of proof. Let’s say that one witness reports that the husband died so the widow remarries, then another witness arrives and says that the husband didn’t die. In such a case, the woman need not leave her new husband. If one witness reported that he had died but two report that he is still alive, then she must leave her second husband even if they have already married (as opposed to mere betrothal). If two witnesses reported that her husband died and one witness reported that he is still alive, then she may go ahead and re-marry even if she has not yet done so.

Yevamos 15:5

If a man has two wives and one reports that he died while the other maintains that he didn’t, the one who says he died may re-marry and receive the value of her kesubah but the one who says he didn’t die may not. If one wife says he died and the other says he was killed (i.e., their stories contradict even if they agree on the fact that he’s dead), Rabbi Meir says they may not re-marry because they contradict, but Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Shimon say they may re-marry because they agree that he’s dead. If one witness says he died and another says he didn’t, or one woman says he died and another says he didn’t, it is not sufficient to permit the wives to re-marry.