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YEVAMOS 38

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SUMMARY

If a Yevamah performs Yibum and then gives birth nine months after the death of the first husband, the child who is born is a Safek. If the father of the Yavam dies, the Safek does not receive a share of the property, because a Safek cannot take money from someone who is a definite heir. (1)
 
The Yavam predeceases his father, and upon the death of the grandfather the Safek says that he wants half of the inheritance because he is the son of the deceased brother of the Yavam. The two sons of the Yavam say that he gets only a third, because he is actually the son of the Yavam. The half of the inheritance to which the Safek has no claim is split between the two sons, and the third of the inheritance to which the sons have no claim is given to the Safek. Of the eighth that remains, half is given to the Safek and half is split between the two sons.
 
If the Safek dies without children, the grandfather and the Yavam split the inheritance equally. If the Yavam dies without children, the grandfather and the Safek split the inheritance equally. (2)
 
Ula says that a Shomeres Yavam who falls to Yibum as an Arusah may sell her property even l'Chatchilah. (3)
 
Beis Shamai: An Arusah may sell her property l'Chatchilah. Beis Hillel: The sale is valid only b'Di'eved. However, if she is a Nesu'ah, everyone agrees that if she sells her property, the husband may take it away from the buyers.
 
Rabah says that a Shomeres Yavam who falls from Nisu'in may sell her property, even though the Zikah makes her a Safek Nesu'ah. However, when she dies, the inheritance is split between her heirs and the heirs of the husband. (4)
 
A man was in debt, and a house collapsed on him and his father, and we do not know which one died first. The creditor claims that the father died first and the son inherited the property before he died. The heirs of the father say that the son died first. Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel disagree about the law in such a case. (5)
 
Beis Shamai: If the husband of a Sotah died before he was able to have his wife drink the Mei Sotah, she collects her Kesuvah, because a Shtar (the Kesuvah) that is ready to be collected is considered as though it has already been collected. Beis Hillel: Since she did not drink the Mei Sotah to establish her innocence, she may not collect her Kesuvah.
 
Abaye says that a woman may sell the property she inherits while she is a Shomeres Yavam, but she may not sell the property she inherited while she was married to her first husband.

A BIT MORE

1. Although if the Safek is the son of the deceased brother he deserves half of the property of the grandfather, if he is the son of the Yavam he gets nothing. Therefore, since he is only a Safek, and the Yavam definitely inherits at least half of the property of the father, a Safek does not have any right to take any of the inheritance from the Yavam who is a definite heir, and thus the Yavam takes the entire inheritance.
 
2. When the Safek dies without children, if he was the son of the deceased brother, the grandfather would be the sole heir. If he was the son of the Yavam, the Yavam would be the sole heir. Since it is a doubt, they split it. When the Yavam dies without children, if the Safek was the son of the deceased brother, the grandfather would be the sole heir. If the Safek was the son of the Yavam, the Safek would be the sole heir. Since it is a doubt, they split it.
 
3. Ula maintains that the Zikah of an Arusah makes her into a Safek Arusah, and the Zikah of a Nesu'ah makes her into a Safek Nesu'ah. Therefore, since an Arusah may sell her property at least b'Di'eved, a Safek Arusah may sell it even l'Chatchilah. A Nesu'ah, however, may not sell her property even b'Di'eved. Therefore, if a Shomeres Yavam dies, since she is a Safek Nesu'ah the property is split between the heir if the father and the Yavam upon her death, according to Beis Shamai. According to Beis Hillel, the property is given to the one who has a Chazakah. The Kesuvah is given to the heirs of the husband, and the Nichsei Melug is given to her heirs.
 
4. Since the Shomeres Yavam has a Chazakah on her property, and the Yavam has only a Safek whether he has a right to the produce of the property, his Safek on the produce does not supplant her definite ownership of the principle. Therefore, she is allowed to sell the property. However, if she dies while she is still a Shomeres Yavam, she no longer has a Chazakah on the property, and her inheritance is split between her heirs and the heirs of the husband.
 
5. Beis Shamai: The creditor and the heirs of the father split the money. Beis Shamai maintains that a Shtar that is ready to be collected is considered as though it has already been collected. Beis Hillel: The property remains with the one who has a Chazakah.

BRIEF INSIGHT

WHEN A SAFEK CLAIM DOES NOT OVERRIDE A DEFINITE CLAIM
 
If the father of the Yavam dies, the Safek does not receive a share of the inheritance, because a Safek cannot take money from someone who is a definite heir. This ruling (that a Safek cannot take money from someone who is a definite heir) applies only to an inheritance, because the person who is a definite heir is regarded as Muchzak on the entire property. If a person has definite rights to something other than an inheritance and there is another person who is a Safek, we do not say that the Safek has no rights to take anything away from the definite recipient, since the definite recipient is not Muchzak on the item in dispute. Therefore, in the case of the first Mishnah in Bava Metzia (in which two people are grasping a Talis and one of them says that the entire thing is his, and the other says that half of the Talis is his), the one who says that half of the Talis is his receives a share in the Talis, even though he admits that the other person definitely has a portion in it. (Nimukei Yosef)

QUICK HALACHAH

A SAFEK HEIR RECEIVES NOTHING
 
If the Safek and the Yavam both claim the inheritance of the grandfather, and the Safek says, "I am the son of the deceased brother and I deserve half of the inheritance," we pay no heed to him. (Shulchan Aruch EH 163:6)
 
The reason is that the Yavam definitely has a share in the inheritance because he is the son of the deceased, while the Safek does not have a definite share in the inheritance. Since he is only a Safek heir, he receives nothing. (Beis Shmuel)

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