1,595. Losing the Get or the Receipt

Hilchos Ishus 16:26

If a woman says to her husband, “You divorced me,” her word is accepted because the assumption is that she wouldn’t otherwise say this to her husband. Therefore, if a woman produces her kesubah but not her get and she says to her husband that he divorced her but she lost the get and now she wants to be paid the value of her kesubah, the husband is obligated to pay her the baseline amount of the kesubah even though he denies divorcing her. In such a case, however, he need not pay the additional amount until she brings proof of the divorce or produces both her kesubah and her get.

Hilchos Ishus 16:27

If the husband says that he divorced his wife and paid her all the value of her kesubah – both the baseline and the additional amount – and that she wrote him a receipt but he lost it, then he obligates her to take an oath while holding something holy to the effect that he still owes her the baseline amount, which he then must pay her. His word is accepted as far as the additional amount is concerned because he could have claimed to have never divorced her, in which case he wouldn’t be responsible for the additional amount at all. He must, however, to take an oath of rabbinic origin about the additional amount.