020 - הִלְכוֹת אִישׁוּת פֵּרֶק כ

Laws of Marriage, Chapter 20

1. The Sages commanded that a person should give a portion of his property to his daughter so that she may marry with it; this is called parnasah (dowry). If one marries off his daughter without specifying an amount, he should not give her less than the clothing that is allotted to the wife of a poor man in Israel, as we have explained. In what case does this apply? When the father is poor. But if he is wealthy, he should give her according to his wealth.

2. If it was stipulated with the husband that she has nothing, and that he should take her in unclothed, then she has nothing. The husband may not say, "When she comes to my house, I will clothe her," but rather, he must clothe her while she is still in her father's house.

3. If a father died and left a daughter, the court estimates how much he intended to give her for her parnasah, and gives her that amount. How do they determine his intention? From his friends and acquaintances, and from his dealings, generosity, and honor. Similarly, if he married off a daughter during his lifetime, they estimate accordingly. If the court cannot determine his intention, they give her one-tenth of his property for her parnasah.

4. If he left many daughters, each one who comes to marry receives a tenth of the property. The next receives a tenth of what remains after the first, and the next receives a tenth of what remains after the second. If they all come to marry at once, the first takes a tenth, the second a tenth of what remains after the first, the third a tenth of what remains after the second, and so on, even if there are ten daughters. Then, they all return and divide all the tenths equally, and the rest of the property goes to the brothers.

5. This tenth that is for parnasah is not a condition of the kesubah; therefore, even according to the later enactments, it is collected only from land. She may collect this tenth from the rental income of the land. If the brothers wish to give her money equivalent to the value of the tenth of the land, they may do so.

6. The daughter, regarding this tenth, is like a creditor of the brothers; therefore, she collects it from the average-quality land, without an oath. If the brothers die, she collects it from their sons from the lowest-quality land, and with an oath, for she is collecting from the property of orphans, and one who collects from orphans' property does so only from the lowest-quality land and with an oath, as will be explained in the Laws of Loans.

7. If the brothers sold or mortgaged their father's land, the daughter may seize her parnasah from the purchasers, just as all creditors seize from purchasers, as will be explained in the Laws of Loans.

8. If someone married off his older daughters and younger ones remained, and he died without a son, the younger daughters do not first take parnasah and then divide the property; rather, they all divide the property equally.

9. If someone died and left two daughters and a son, and the first took a tenth of the property, but the second did not manage to collect before the son died and all the property fell to the two daughters, the second does not take a tenth, but they divide equally; the first retains her tenth.

10. If someone instructed at the time of his death, "Do not provide parnasah for my daughters from my property," his words are heeded, for this is not a condition of the kesubah.

11. If someone died and left a widow and a daughter, we have already explained that the widow's sustenance takes precedence over the daughter's sustenance. Similarly, if the daughter married, she does not take a tenth of the property because of the widow's sustenance. Even if the daughter died after marrying, the husband does not inherit the parnasah that was due to her, for all the property remains in the possession of the widow for her sustenance.

12. If a minor orphan girl was married off by her mother or brother with her consent, and they gave her a hundred or fifty zuz, she may, when she grows up, demand from them the proper parnasah due to her, either according to the father's estimated intention or a tenth of the land, even if the brothers did not support her. Even though she did not protest at the time of marriage, this is because a minor is not capable of protest.

13. If the daughter married after she had grown up, whether as a na’arah or as a bogeres, and she did not claim her support, she has forfeited her support. But if she protested at the time of her marriage, she may collect what is due to her whenever she wishes. If she became a bogeres while still in her father’s house, whether she became a bogeres after his death or he left her as a bogeres, if the brothers stopped providing her sustenance—since she is no longer entitled to sustenance as explained—and she remained silent and did not claim her support, she has forfeited her support. But if she protested, she has not forfeited her support. If the brothers did not stop providing her sustenance and continued to support her after she became a bogeres, even though she did not protest, she has not forfeited her support as long as they continue to support her, for she can argue that since they are supporting her, even though they are not obligated to do so and she is still unmarried, for this reason she did not claim her support.

14. If someone instructed that a certain sum of money be given to his daughter for her support to purchase land with it, whether he was on his deathbed or healthy, and he died, and the money is in the hands of a trustee, and the daughter says, “Give it to my husband; he may do with it as he wishes”—if she is an adult and married, the right is hers. But if she is still only betrothed, the trustee should do with the money as he was instructed. And if she is still a minor—even if she is married—she is not listened to; rather, the trustee should do as the father instructed him.