1,603. A Woman Who Waives Her Rights to Her Husband's Real Estate

Hilchos Ishus 17:11

Let’s say that a man sells his property and his wife agrees to the sale, writing the buyer that she has no claim against him. Nevertheless, she may still collect payment for her kesubah by seizing this property, even if she confirmed this arrangement by performing an act of acquisition. This is because she only wrote her statement in order to avoid discord with her husband. On the other hand, if the buyer arranges with the wife to waive her claim on the property and the deal is confirmed by performing an act of acquisition, only after which the husband makes the sale, then the wife can no longer seize the property as payment for her kesubah. The same is true if a man sold property, asked his wife to write to the buyer waiving her rights to it, and she refused, canceling the sale. If the husband later sells this or other property to a different buyer and, after the sale, his wife agrees to waive her rights and confirms it by performing an act of acquisition, she may not seize this property. In this case she can’t claim that she only did this in order to please her husband because, previously, she didn’t give up her claim just to please her husband.

Hilchos Ishus 17:12

Let’s say that a man has two wives. He sells a field and the buyer performs an act of acquisition with one of them giving up her claim to this property in a way that keeps her from claiming that she did so just to please her husband. Later, the husband dies or divorces both women. In such a case, the other wife can still seize the property from the buyer because she had no such arrangement with him. The first wife can then seize the property from the second wife because she had a prior claim to it and only waived her rights to it in favor of the buyer. When the property enters the first wife’s possession, the buyer can seize it from her because of their deal. They can go around and around in this manner until the three of them come up with a mutually-acceptable solution.