If a husabnd and wife have eight children and the husbands income is insufficient to meet the expenses of the family (he earns 175,000), but the wife has passive income which is sufficient to pay the expenses of the family, does the husband have the right under the concept of “nichsai melug” to request of his wife that she pay to help meet the expenses of the family? Assume no pre-nuptial or post nuptial agreement.
Answer:
Provided no other agreement was made, a wife’s income (including passive income) belongs to her husband, and he is able to make use of it in whichever way he sees fit. Certainly, he is within his rights to request that it should be used to support the family expenditure.
Sources: See Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha’ezer 85:1; 84:1; 83:1; it is clear from these sources that a wife’s passive income, or the ‘fruit’ of her possessions, belongs to the husband. This is also clear from the Gemara in Eizehu Neshech, which discusses the interest received from nichsei milug. According to one opinion in the Gemara (Kesubos 80a-b), the entire purpose of the husband’s receiving the fruit of his wife’s property is for the ‘financial benefit of the house,’ so that using the money for household and family expenses is entirely legitimate.
