Yerushalmi Gittin 9:4 ירושלמי גיטין ט׳:ד׳

MISHNAH: Rebbi Eleazar says, it⁶⁹One of the irregular bills of divorce mentioned in the preceding Mishnah. is valid even if there are no signatures of witnesses on it if only he delivered it in the presence of witnesses; and she can use it to collect from encumbered property⁷⁰The testimony of the witnesses to the delivery will enable the divorcee to request the court to foreclose property if the husband is unwilling or unable to pay her ketubah. Cf. Mishnah 4:3.. For the witnesses sign on the bill of divorce only for the public good⁷¹The public good is that the divorcee is much less likely to become a burden on public charity if her claims on her ex-husband are documented rather than dependent on the testimony of witnesses who may or may not be available to testify..

HALAKHAH: “Rebbi Eleazar says, it is valid even if there are no signatures of witnesses on it,” etc. Rav and Samuel both say that practice follows Rebbi Eleazar. Rebbi Joḥanan in the name of Rebbi Yannai: The words of the Sages: It is invalid. There came a case before Rebbi Joḥanan about a Cohen’s wife and he wanted to act on Rebbi Yannai’s statement⁷²He wanted to declare the bill of divorce as nonexistent and permit the divorcee to return to her Cohen husband. when it was heard that Rav and Samuel disagreed. There came before him [another case] involving an Israel, and he listened to that⁷³He accepted the unsigned bill of divorce as valid and empowered the wife to collect her ketubah.. Rebbi Joshua ben Levi said, in the opinion of everybody it is valid. But did not Rebbi Eleazar say, it is valid⁷⁴If a name is attached to the statement it proves that it cannot be a unanimous opinion. The opposing, unnamed, rabbis must hold that the bill is invalid., and the rabbis say, it is invalid? What is their disagreement? Rebbi Eleazar said, it is valid and she can collect from encumbered property⁷⁵If the husband is unable to pay her ketubah and if he sold real estate during the marriage, the wife’s lien on that real estate was not broken by the sale and she can foreclose from the buyer.. The rabbis said, it is invalid and she can collect only from unencumbered property⁷⁶The bill of divorce is not usable in money matters; the divorcee’s claim does not have the status of a prior mortgage, which can also be enforced against the innocent buyer, but that of an undocumented loan which on the testimony of witnesses can be enforced against the debtor (in this case, the ex-husband) but not against a buyer of real property (who could not have discovered the existence of the debt by a title search.).