One of the purposes of the ketubah money is to make it difficult for a husband to capriciously divorce his wife. This is achieved by the husband’s undertaking in the ketubah document to pay his wife a lump sum in the event that he divorces her. This lump sum is comprised of three parts: the ikar ketubah in an amount of 200 zuz coins that were legal tender in Talmudic times; the dowry amount, equal to the value of the property the wife brings into the marriage as assessed at that time; and an additional amount, in the event of a divorce. In the event of the husband’s death, the widow has the option to sue for the payment of the lump sum or to continue to receive her mezonot periodically from the deceased husband’s estate. She cannot do both.
In Talmudic times, two hundred zuz was a substantial amount of money. It distinguished the rich from the poor. The sages estimated that this sum was sufficient to pay for a person’s food and clothing for one year. With the passage of time and inflation, the sum of 200 zuz ceased to be a deterrent to divorce. Whereas Ashkenazi Jews in the Diaspora have made little attempt to monetize the ketubah amount, Sephardi Jews often insert substantial amounts into the ketubah. The ketubah used by the Israeli rabbinate inserts meaningful amounts. In order to enforce his obligation in the ketubah, the husband mortgages all his property as security for the payment of the ketubah amount. Accordingly, to satisfy the payment of the ketubah amount, the divorcee or widow may extract the husband’s property from any person who purchased the property from the husband after the date of the ketubah.
The obligations outlined in the ketubah set a floor, not a ceiling. A married couple can agree upon higher amounts and additional obligations, but they cannot be without a ketubah.