1,824. The Witnesses of a Refusal

Hilchos Geirushin 11:9

The two witnesses in front of whom the minor performed refusal should write her a document saying that on such-and-such date, (the girl), daughter of (the girl’s father), refused her husband. They sign this document and give it to her. This is the main part of a refusal document. A refusal document is unlike a get in that giving the woman the get is what effects divorce. A refusal document need not be written with specific intention, it doesn’t have to be delivered, and none of the laws of a get apply to it. The language used in a get is not used in a refusal document so that people shouldn’t think that it’s a get; it’s just a legal record.

Hilchos Geirushin 11:10

The two witnesses before whom the girl performs refusal must know both her and her husband. Whoever sees a girl perform refusal and make the statement is able to write the document even if they didn’t know her identity previously. The accepted practice is to write the refusal document using the language that appears in the next halacha.