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(6) [If] a minor accepted a bill of divorce [to deliver] and came of age [before he delivered it], or a deaf person and he recovered his hearing, or a blind person and he recovered his sight, or a shoteh [a person who exhibits signs indicating profound mental incompetence] and he became mentally competent, or a non-Jew and he converted, [the bill of divorce] is invalid. But [if he] was hearing, and became deaf and then recovered his hearing; or he was seeing, and he became blind, and then recovered his sight; or a mentally competent person, and he became a shoteh, and then became mentally competent again, it is valid. This is the rule: Any case in which [at] the beginning and end [he] was with [his] full faculties, it is valid.

(7) Even those women who are not believed to say [with regard to a woman], "Her husband died," are believed to bring her bill of divorce: her mother-in-law, and the daughter of her mother-in-law, her sister-wife, the wife of her husband's brother, and her husband's daughter. What is the difference between [testifying about] a bill of divorce and [about] death? Because [with regard to the bill of divorce] the writing, [i.e., the bill itself,] proves [the testimony to be accurate]. A woman herself may bring her own bill of divorce, but she must declare, "It was written and signed in my presence."

(1) Every bill of divorce which is not written for a particular woman is invalid. How so? If one was passing through the market and he heard the voice of the scribes saying, "So-and-so divorces So-and-so from Such-and-such a place," and he said [to himself], "That is my name and that is the name of my wife," it is invalid to divorce [his wife] with that [bill of divorce]. Moreover, if one wrote [a bill of divorce] with which to divorce his wife, and he changed his mind, and a fellow townsman found him and said to him, "My name is the same as your name and my wife's name is the same as your wife's name," the bill of divorce is invalid [for the latter] to divorce [his wife] with it. Moreover, if one had two wives,and their names are the same, if he wrote a bill of divorce to divorce the elder, he may not use it to divorce the younger. Moreover, if one says to a scribe, "Write a bill of divorce, so that I may divorce whichever one I desire," it is invalid to divorce with it.

(2) [With regard to] one who writes blank forms of bills of divorce must leave space [for the insertion of the name of] the husband and space [for the name of] the wife, and space for the date. In blank forms of loan contracts one must leave space for [the insertion of] the lender's [name], space for the borrower's [name], space for the [amount] of money, and space for the date. In forms of deeds of sale, one must leave space for [the insertion of the name of] the buyer and space for the seller, and space for the purchase money, space for [the description of] the field [sold], and space for the date. [This is all] due to the [special] enactment. Rabbi Yehudah disqualifies all [blank forms]. Rabbi Elazar considers them all valid, with the exception of a bill of divorce, because it is stated (Deuteronomy 24:1), "He shall write unto her [a bill of divorce]," [indicating] for her in particular.