A woman awaiting a yavam, to whom property fell —- Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel agree that [if] she sells [it] or gives [it] away, [the act] is valid. [If] she died, what is to be done with her kesubah and with the property that comes in and goes out with her? Beis Shammai say: The husband’s heirs divide [it] with the father’s heirs; but Beis Hillel say: The property remains in their pos-session; the kesubah is in the possession of the husband’s heirs, [and] the property that comes in and goes out with her is in the possession of the father’s heirs.

[If] his brother left money, land should be bought with it, and he enjoys the usufruct [thereof]. [If he left] produce detached from the ground, land should be bought with it, and he enjoys the usufruct [thereof]. [If he left produce] that is attached to the ground —- said R’ Meir: They appraise them [and determine] how much they are worth with produce and how much they are worth without produce; with the difference, land should be bought, and he enjoys the usufruct [thereof]. The Sages, however, say: Produce attached to the ground is his; detached from the ground —- whoever comes first gains possession [of them]: [If] he comes first, he gains possession; [if] she comes first, land should be bought with it, and he enjoys the usufruct [thereof]. [If] he married her, she is considered his wife in all respects, except that her kesubah is a lien on her first husband’s property.

He shall not say to her: “Your kesubah is lying on the table”; rather, all his property is surety for the kesubah. Likewise, a man shall not say to his wife, “Your kesubah is lying on the table”; rather, all his property is surety for her kesubah. [If] he divorced her, she is entitled only to her kesubah. [If] he remarried her, she is like all [other] women; she is entitled only to her kesubah.

[If] one writes to his wife: “I have neither right nor claim to your property,” he may [nevertheless] enjoy the usufruct during her lifetime. If she dies, he inherits her. If so, why did he write to her: “I have neither right nor claim to your property”? That if she sold [it] or gave [it] away, [the act] is valid.  [If] he wrote to her: “I have neither right nor claim to your property or its usufruct,” he does not enjoy the usufruct during her lifetime; but if she dies, he inherits her. R’ Yehudah says: He may always enjoy the usufruct of the produce unless he writes to her: “I have neither right nor claim to your property or its produce or the usufruct of its produce forever.”  [If] he wrote to her: “I have neither right nor claim to your property or its produce or the usu-fruct of its produce during your lifetime and after your death,” he does not enjoy the usufruct during her lifetime; and if she dies, he does not inherit her. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: If she dies, he inherits her, because he stipulated on what is written in the Torah, and whoever stipulates on what is written in the Torah, his stipulation is void.