One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
אִישׁוּת
Marriage 18
Sefer Nashim · The support a widow draws from her husband's estate, what ends it, the house she may live in but not rebuild, the standing that rises with her husband and never falls, and the oath the Rambam insists she take before she is fed
6
Months of support for which estate property is sold at a time, and no more, until only her ketubah remains
30
Days between each food allotment the purchaser of that property must hand to the widow
5
People eating together on four measures, which is why a widow living apart may be given only her household share
3
Years of silence after which a wealthy widow is presumed to have waived past support, against two for a poor widow
Part 1What she receives while she remains a widow, and what ends it
- Support or settlement, not both. A widow is supported from the estate as long as she remains a widow, but from the moment she demands her ketubah in court, or sells, pledges or makes an ipotiki of all of it, in court or out, in his lifetime or after, she loses her support, while selling only part leaves it intact, and betrothal ends it. (18:1)
- The house she may not rebuild. She keeps her clothing, utensils, pillows, spreads, servants and the dwelling she shared with him, and if the heirs sell that dwelling the sale is of no consequence, but if it falls they need not rebuild it and she may not rebuild, repair or seal it even at her own expense. (18:2)
- She rises with him and does not descend. Her dwelling, support and wardrobe follow her social standing, or his where his was higher, since a woman rises with her husband's standing and does not descend with it, even after his death. (18:3)
- Illness, captivity and burial. Open ended medical care is part of her support while limited treatment comes out of her ketubah, the heirs need not redeem her from captivity, and his heirs bury her unless she had already sworn, in which case her own heirs inherit the ketubah and bury her. (18:5, 18:6)
- Household tasks, minus the intimate ones. She performs for the heirs every task a wife performs for her husband except pouring drinks, making beds and washing face, hands and feet, and what she finds and the benefit of her own property are hers. (18:7, 18:8)
RememberThe support is her place in his household continuing. The ketubah is the payment for leaving it, and she is the one who decides when to ask.
Part 2Her property, what she seizes, and the estate
- Her nedunyah, without an oath. She takes the property she brought in without swearing, and even if she dies before swearing her heirs inherit it, but any increase in the value of nichsei tzon barzel during his lifetime goes to his heirs. (18:9)
- A talent of gold stays in her hands. Movable property she seizes for her support is not removed from her, whether taken in his lifetime or after, and the court records it, sets her allowance and lets her live from it, with the remainder going to the heirs. (18:10)
- The geonic ordinance, and its limit. The geonim allowed collection of the ketubah and support from movables, yet movables she did not seize go to the heirs, and she cannot have them held in court for her, even with an explicit stipulation. (18:12)
- Many wives, and a yevamah. Several widows are supported equally regardless of the order of their marriages, and a widow bound to a yavam is supported for three months, or until birth if pregnant, after which she must press him to marry or release her. (18:14, 18:15)
- A field set aside. A man who designated land for his wife's support added to her rights, but one who told her that her support would come from that place, while she stayed silent, limited her to its income. (18:18)
RememberWhat she has already taken for her food is left with her, however much it is, and the court simply does the arithmetic.
Part 3The oath, the sale, and the claim
- The Rambam's own ruling. Some held that a widow is supported without an oath, confusing her with a woman whose husband went overseas, but his teachers required an oath because anyone collecting from heirs swears first, and he rules that way. (18:19)
- Sworn at the outset, sold quietly. The oath is administered first and property is sold without publicity, and she may also sell through three trustworthy people or by herself at fair value, though if the heirs later demand her oath she must take it. (18:20)
- No document, no support. A widow who does not produce her ketubah receives no support, since she may have waived, sold or pledged it, and the court raises this claim for the heirs even when they do not, unless the local custom is not to write one. (18:23)
- No expropriation on a doubt. Where it is doubtful whether a woman was divorced and her husband then died, she receives no support from his estate, since property is not taken from an heir on a doubtful claim. (18:25)
- The addition follows the principal. The sum a husband added to the ketubah is treated like the fundamental sum, and a woman who sells or waives her ketubah without specifying is taken to have included the addition. (18:28)
RememberA widow is not a wife whose husband is away. She collects from heirs, and heirs are paid out only on an oath.