1,525. Chuppah Without a Kesubah, or Vice Versa

Hilchos Ishus 10:10

If a man brings in a woman without writing her a kesubah, or if he wrote her a kesubah but it was lost, or if she waived the kesubah or she sold it to him – he must write a document committing to the baseline amount of the kesubah in order to keep living with his wife. This is because a man may not live with his wife for even a moment without a kesubah. However, if a woman sells the rights to her kesubah to others as an investment, then her husband need not write her another kesubah. This is because the purpose of the kesubah is to keep a man from impulsively divorcing his wife and in this scenario, if he divorces her, he must pay the value of her kesubah to the one who bought it just as he would have to pay her if she hadn’t sold it.

Hilchos Ishus 10:11

If a man consecrates a woman and writes her a kesubah but doesn't bring her into the chuppah, she remains betrothed rather than (completely) married. This is because the kesubah doesn’t finalize the marriage. If he dies or divorces her, she may collect the baseline amount of the kesubah from his property or his heirs. She does not collect the additional sum because they never finalized the marriage. Conversely, if a man consecrates a woman and doesn’t write her a kesubah, then he dies or divorces her while she is still betrothed, she doesn’t even collect the baseline amount. This is because the Sages only granted the baseline amount of a kesubah upon consummation of a marriage or the husband writing his wife a marriage contract. If a man consecrates his daughter to another man, who writes her a kesubah and then dies or divorces her while she is still a minor, it is the father who gets the money, as was explained in halacha 3:11.