2,952. When the Object of the Commitment Dies

Hilchos Arachin Vacharamin 1:22

If someone commits his actual value (as opposed to his valuation), then even if he stands before the court and dies before they set an amount, after which the judges announce his value, his heirs need not pay. If they fixed his value before he died, then his heirs must pay.

Hilchos Arachin Vacharamin 1:23

The difference between valuations and values is that valuations are fixed amounts set by the Torah, while one’s value is not a fixed amount. Similarly, if person A commits the valuation of person B and they both died after person B stood before the court, person A’s heirs must pay his commitment. If person B died before standing before the court, then even if person A is still alive, he is not required to pay. This is because one who has died has no valuation and one whose valuation was committed must stand before the court. If person X committed the value of person Y and person Y stood before the court but died before his value was set, then person X need not pay, because a dead person has no value.