1,886. Testimony That a Yavam Died

Yibum v’Chalitzah 3:8

If one of the two women (in the previous halacha) has a witness who can testify that her husband died, she is nevertheless not permitted to remarry. This is because the impediment to her remarriage is not in establishing the death of her husband, it’s in establishing the death of her yavam. The other woman, who doesn’t have a witness, is permitted to remarry because this witness has testified that her yavam has died. Meanwhile, her own testimony, about the death of her husband, is admissible.

Yibum v’Chalitzah 3:9

If one of these two women has children and the other one doesn’t, the one without children is not permitted to remarry, while the one with children can. If there is another living brother who can perform yibum (or chalitzah) in such a case, he should do so with both of them.