Shulchan Arukh Even HaEzer · Siman 101

Shulchan Arukh Even HaEzer 101 — English translation

Translation: Sefaria Community Translation. Section numbers match the Hebrew text above.

1. 1A widow, as long as the Ketuba is in her possession, [is able to] collect [the money due to her] forever, whether she is supported in her father's house or her [new] husband's house, and she is assured [this] even after she remarries. Even if seven years have passed, [the money] is not withheld [from her], so long as she does not render it defective, i.e. she collects some, or she uses it as collateral for a loan. And if the Ketuba is not in her possession, and she comes to collect with a claim to the court in a place where they do not write, [debts such as these into the public record] if she is supported in her father's house, (Rem''a: or she remarried (Mordechai, the end of Chapter 'HaNose')) she does not collect until the end of a twenty-five year period. But if she remains quiet for twenty-five years and does not make a claim, she forgives [the debt]. And if she makes a claim within twenty-five years [of her previous husband's death], the twenty-five year period [she must wait to collect the debt] is counted from the day she [initially] makes her claim. Additionally, her heirs need to make the claim within twenty-five years of her death, and if they remain silent longer than twenty-five years, they forgive [the debt]. (Rem''a: And any [woman] who remembers and says that the silence was not due to forgiveness [of the loan], it is as if she made a claim (Ran, Chapter 'HaNose')
2. 2Even if she is given food from her father's house, if the heirs honor her by sending her food themselves, her silence is not considered forgiving the debt, [for we suspect] that her silence was due to shame and not because she forgave it.
3. 3The dowry is never forgiven, even if she postponed [collection] for several years.
4. 4A divorcee never forgives the debt, even is she postponed [collecting] several years.

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