Levirate marriage is the practice of a woman marrying one of her husband's brothers after her husband's death, if there were no children, in order to continue his line. Levirate marriage has been practiced by societies with a strong clan structure in which exogamous marriage outside the clan was forbidden. Groups that have practiced levirate marriage include the Israelites, the Xiongnu, the Mongols, and the Tibetans. The practice was discontinued by the Western Jewish community in the Middle ages, a decision which was extended to most of the Jewish world in the early 1950s and is in fact forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church unless no intercourse occurred. (It was a dispute over this that caused Henry VIII's split with the Roman Catholic Church.)

For the view of levirate marriage in Judaism, see Yibbum.

See also

• Sororate marriage
• Fraternal polyandry

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