Q&A: A Husband’s Entitlement to the Yield of His Wife’s Melog Property
A Husband’s Entitlement to the Yield of His Wife’s Melog Property
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael,
I wanted to ask you about a husband’s entitlement to the yield of his wife’s melog property. In the modern world, every working woman has a provident fund, an advanced training fund, and a pension fund. Suppose a married couple decides to divorce after 10 years of marriage. Also suppose that the woman brought into the marriage provident/pension/training funds worth 100,000 NIS as melog property. Would the husband be entitled to claim all the interest that accrued in those funds during the 10 years of marriage, after deducting inflationary erosion?
And if the husband does not claim this because he is unaware of it, is the wife obligated to inform him?
Answer
To the best of my judgment, the interest belongs to her. The yield that the Sages granted the husband in melog property is yield that is extracted during the course of life and available for current use, like fruit picked from a tree or gathered from a field. But interest of this kind is added to the principal and available for use only when the principal is redeemed, so in my opinion it is clear that it is entirely hers.
——————————————————————————————
Questioner:
What would the answer be regarding an ordinary savings account in a bank on which the woman accrues interest? I mean a savings account with no restriction at all on the redemption date.
——————————————————————————————
Rabbi:
There is room for doubt. By reasoning alone, in my opinion there too it is hers. The purpose of granting the yield is that the husband should take care of the field, and that does not exist here.