[Avodah] kesuvah

[Zev Sero]

M Cohen wrote:
> does anyone have any maareh m'komos or insights into the current minhag not
> to pay kesuvah?

In most countries the law gives the widow an inheritance, which will
generally come to much more than she would get from the kesuba.  And
most men who make wills also leave their wives better off than they
would be with the kesuba.

In the case of divorces, women do much better in the secular courts
than they would getting their kesuba.  Especially since most women who
demand a get have no halachic grounds for one, so they're mordos and
halachically aren't entitled to anything at all.  (I don't think there
are any statistics on who initiates Jewish divorces, let alone frum ones,
but in the general USAn culture most divorces are initiated by the wife,
and I know of no basis for supposing that Jews are different in this
regard.)

And if there's a private financial agreement that both agreed to, then
both sides are waiving anything they'd be entitled to in either court
or beis din, so the kesuba becomes irrelevant.


-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas