1,825. The Document of Refusal

Hilchos Geirushin 11:11

The accepted text of the refusal document is: “On day A of the week, on day B of the month, in year C of the following reckoning, (girl), daughter of (girl’s father) objected in our presence, saying, ‘My mother or brother misled me and married/betrothed me to (man), son of (man’s father) while I was a minor. I now state in your presence that I don’t desire him and I can’t live with him.’ We had (girl) take a physical exam and it was determined that she’s still a minor. We have therefore written and signed this and have given it to her as proof and incontrovertible evidence.” They then sign the document as witnesses.

Hilchos Geirushin 11:12

If a man divorces his wife and she gets betrothed to someone else, she becomes prohibited to the first husband even if she was never intimate with the second. If the first remarries her and they have marital relations, he is subject to the penalty of lashes must divorce her as per Deuteronomy 24:4, “Her first husband, who sent her away, is not able to take her back as a wife.”