- Sections
- P'ninat Mishpat
27
Ruling: Def’s promises appear to be oral gifts, which are not enforceable in beit din (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 189:1). However, monetary oral promises can sometimes create a moral obligation, which beit din needs to explain to a party who wants to back out of it (ibid. 204:7). However, the halacha (ibid. 8), based on an opinion in the gemara (Bava Metzia 49a), is that there is no moral obligation to keep the promise on a large gift, because people do not rely on such generous assurances. While the cutoff point for a large gift depends on the giver’s means, this case’s hundreds of thousands of NIS certainly constitutes a large gift.
On the other hand, here def was not promising a simple present but a means to settle a brewing legal dispute (over inheritance). Because of this and, additionally, because at the time of the commitment all believed that def would be able to keep her promise, there should be a moral obligation.
A factor to exempt def is that, in general, there is a machloket whether oral promises are still morally viable if the financial logic behind the promise changed substantially (Rama, CM 204:11). While the Rama sides with the opinion that it still applies, many poskim disagree, thus weakening any moral obligation (Aruch Hashulchan CM 204:8). Furthermore, due to the fact that the assurance was not immediate but depended on a future event (the sale), in a manner that a kinyan could not have been legally binding, many dismiss the moral obligation without a kinyan.
While def is not required to pay anything to pl now, beit din suggests that if the family relationships return to being good, def should bequeath to pl in her will, part of the home that she bought with the sale’s proceeds.

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