How Can someone Protect Himself From a Modaah?

Questions? Comments? We love feedback! Email us at [email protected] Yosef Dovid JosilowskyQuestion: I want to reach a settlement with someone but I am worried that he will make a Modaah that will invalidate the entire deal. How can I protect myself from someone using the halachos of Modaah to negate a legitimate transaction?Answer: The Mahari ben Lev writes that the way to write an agreement that would be protected from a previous Modaah is to incorporate four things in the document:The party should admit that he made no previous Modaahs.Bittul Modaah: It should be declared that all previous Modaahs are batul and what is said today will override anything from the past. The Rosh rules that bittul Modaah is effective, and even if the Modaah states that it is meant to be mevatel a bittul Modaah, the bittul Modaah can be mevatel that too.The Rambam argues with the Rosh and rules that a bittul Modaah does not work; however, even the Rambam agrees that one can make a declaration that: “Anything I previously said that could be undo this transaction is now batul.” Once one makes this statement, all previous Modaahs are canceled. Therefore, this declaration should also be included in the shtar.The Rashba says that a solution to protect oneself from Modaahs is to invalidate the witnesses on the Modaah by saying that the party admits that any witness on a modaah is [as far as they are concerned] an invalid witness. This solution of invalidating the witnesses should be used in the