1,598. Paying Several Wives

Hilchos Ishus 17:1

Let’s say that a man dies after marrying several women. Whichever of them he married first has the right to collect the value of her kesubah first but none of them can collect without taking an oath. The women who married the deceased later can only collect from what remains after earlier wives are paid. Even the last wife to be paid must take an oath before she can collect. Similarly, if there’s a promissory note, then if the note is dated earlier than the kesubahs, the note is paid first. If the kesubahs are each dated earlier than the note, then the women are paid first and the holder of the note collects from what’s left.

Hilchos Ishus 17:2

The above halacha applies when the real estate from which the women and the creditor want to collect was owned by the deceased when he married the women and borrowed the money. In such circumstances, whoever's document is dated first has priority. However, if a man married several women one after another and he borrowed money, either before or after marrying the women, and he only subsequently bought the land, then it is divided equally among all the claimants. This is because, in this scenario, all of their liens on his property took effect at the same time. When the man bought the land, each one of them acquired a lien on it; none of them takes priority over any other.