No goods for naughty wives

Wives who bring their lovers into the marital bed ‘damage the moral patrimony’ and have no rights to the martial assets. Putting the final word on a case dating from 1975, Italy’s highest appeals court said that unfaithful wives forfeit any assets they once shared with their husbands. The lengthy case involved a woman who had left her husband for a much younger lover. When the woman’s husband discovered that she was entertaining her lover in their home, he took her to court to deny her alimony and assets. The court ruled in his favour, stating that such a ‘deceitful and disrespectful attitude’ would cost the woman her share of the property.