I wonder if I would be forgiven for saying that the current law in relation to footballers’ wives comes under the Matrimonial Causes Act. The House of Lords has made it clear that the phrase "reasonable needs" is no longer appropriate between spouses. The words "reasonable needs", which used to be the law between husbands and wives, is no longer the law between them. That is why the phrase is in the Bill. It takes us back to a situation where a moderate sum is paid, not a footballer’s wife large sum. They come under House of Lords decisions, which are a completely different state of law.
Cohabitation Bill [HL]
Proceeding contribution from
Baroness Butler-Sloss
(Crossbench)
in the House of Lords on Thursday, 30 April 2009.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Cohabitation Bill [HL].
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
710 c422-3 
Session
2008-09
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2024-04-21 11:19:12 +0100
URI
http://data.parliament.uk/pimsdata/hansard/CONTRIBUTION_552972
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