1,515. Which Woman Was Consecrated?

Hilchos Ishus 9:21

Let’s say that a man consecrates one of five women but he doesn’t know which one and each of them claims that it was her. In such a case, he is prohibited to all of their relatives and he must give each of them a get. He leaves the value of one kesubah among them and leaves. However, if he consecrated the woman through marital relations, the Sages penalize him by requiring him to pay each of the women the value of the kesubah. This is the case when we know that he wrote a kesubah for one of the women but it was lost, and now each of the women claims that he consecrated and wrote the kesubah for her.

Hilchos Ishus 9:22

If word gets around that a woman has been consecrated to a certain man, we assume that the report is accurate even though there is no concrete proof. If a report is not validated by the court, we pay it no mind. A report that would be validated is when two men testify that they saw candles lit, couches made, guests entering and exiting the house, and women celebrating, saying that this woman was married that day. If the women are heard saying that the woman would be married that day, we disregard the report because maybe they gathered for a marriage that did not end up occurring. A report is only validated if it is to the effect that she was already married. Similarly, if two witnesses testify that they saw what looked like a betrothal, and that they heard celebration, and they heard from person A who heard from person B that this woman was married in the presence of witnesses but that those witnesses went abroad or died, this is sufficient to consider a woman to be consecrated.