1,449. A Father Marrying Off a Minor Daughter

Hilchos Ishus 3:11

A father may accept kiddushin for his minor daughter without her involvement; he retains this right while she is a naarah (“maiden” – from age 12 to 12½) as we see from Deuteronomy 22:16, “I gave my daughter to this man.” The money in such a case belongs to her father. Similarly, a father has rights to property his minor daughter finds, wages she may earn and the value of her kesubah if she is divorced or widowed before her marriage is finalized (i.e., nisuin, the second stage of marriage). A father is entitled to all these things until his daughter becomes a bogeres (“mature” – after 12½). Accordingly, a father can accept kiddushin on behalf of his daughter from the day she is born until she becomes a bogeres. This is true even if she has congenital deafness or lacks mental competence. If a girl is older than three years and a day, marriage can be effected through sexual intimacy with the father’s consent; below this age, marriage would not be effected even with her father’s consent. [Please see editor’s note below.*]

Hilchos Ishus 3:12

After a girl becomes a bogeres, her father no longer has any rights over her. She is like any other woman and may only be married based on her own consent. If a girl’s father gave her in marriage and the marriage was finalized, after which the girl was widowed or divorced, she is considered independent; this is true even if she is still a minor and her father is still alive. Once a girl finalizes a marriage, her father no longer has any authority over her.

*Editor’s note: Please note that, in practical application, a father is not permitted to marry off a minor daughter; he must wait until she reaches the age of majority and consents. See Kiddushin 41a, Even HaEzer 37:8, and halacha 3:19, later in this chapter of the Rambam.