1,842. Witnesses Who Differ in Succession as to a Man's Death

Hilchos Geirushin 12:17

Similar to the case in the previous halacha is the case of a sinner who is Biblically disqualified as a witness. If he comes to testify that a woman’s husband is dead, his statement is inadmissible. If he makes statements in the course of regular conversation, then his words are accepted. One who is disqualified as a witness under rabbinic law, however, can actually testify about such a matter.

Hilchos Geirushin 12:18

Let’s say that one witness testified that a woman’s husband died and she was permitted to remarry based on that testimony. Later, another witness arrives and contradicts the testimony of the first witness, saying that the man in question didn’t die. In such a case, nothing changes and the woman may still remarry. This is because the testimony of one witness is accepted about the death of a woman’s husband the same way that the testimony of two witnesses is accepted in other matters. Accordingly, the testimony of one witness is not considered in the face of two witnesses (or, in this case, the equivalent of two witnesses).