Chapter on Taking Back a Divorced Wife

Whoever divorces, without compensation, a wife with whom the marriage has been consummated or with whom he has been in seclusion, and who has not exhausted the number of divorces available to him, may take her back during her waiting period. ..........................

His statement, “taking back,” means restoring a divorced wife by a legally valid means without a new marriage contract, or returning the divorced wife to the bond of marriage.

For example, a man says to his wife, “You are divorced,” and she is thereby divorced. During her waiting period, he may say, “I have taken you back.” His statement, “I have taken you back,” constitutes taking her back, though it has conditions.

His statement, “Whoever divorces,” is a condition.

His statement, “without compensation, a wife with whom the marriage has been consummated or with whom he has been in seclusion, and who has not exhausted the number of divorces available to him, may take her back during her waiting period”: these are five conditions without which taking her back is not valid: the separation must be by divorce; it must be without compensation; the wife must be one with whom the marriage has been consummated or with whom he has been in seclusion; the divorces must be fewer than the number available to him; and the taking back must occur during the waiting period—that is, before it expires.

First: the separation must be by divorce. This excludes a separation by annulment, such as when she annuls the marriage because of a defect in her husband, or because a condition she stipulated to him has not been met. In such a case, he has no right to take her back, because this is not a divorce but an annulment.