It was recently reported in the Metro a 51 year old husband in France has been ordered to pay his 47 year old ex-wife damages for not having enough sex with her. The wife had filed for divorce stating the husband’s lack of activity in the bedroom was the reason for the marriage breaking down. Under the French civil code, it states as part of the section relating to Respective Rights and Duties of the Spouses that “spouses mutually oblige themselves to a community of living.” The Judge ruled that this would imply that sexual relations must form part of the marriage. Therefore, the Judge granted the divorce and ruled the husband was solely to blame for the break up. The wife then took the husband back to Court claiming compensation for “lack of sex over 21 years of marriage”. The husband cited tiredness and health problems as the reasons for his lack of libido. However, the Judge ruled that the husband should pay £8,500 in compensation to the wife. The Judge stated as part of his ruling that “a sexual relationship between husband and wife is the expression of affection they have for each other and, in this case, it was absent.”
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