Preparation:
- Brazilian and foreign documents;
- Powers and declarations of consent.
International divorce decrees, change of name, marital status, adoption, etc. before the Supreme Court and notaries
According to Brazilian law, any foreign decision or sentence – divorce, adoption, change of name, etc. – will only be valid in Brazil,
after it has been ratified (recognized) by the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ), in Brasília/DF.
What does “Homologate” mean?
It means recognizing the decision of a judicial act rendered in a foreign country.
HOMOLOGATION OF DIVORCE
Many Brazilians do not know that the marriage held abroad is valid in Brazil, even if it has not been registered at the Brazilian Consulate and/or in Brazil. And they ignore that if there is divorce abroad, it must be ratified by the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).
Peters Advogados Associados provides legal advice
at all stages of the homologation process
From the beginning, in the preparation of Brazilian and foreign documents, until the final phase, after the homologation by the STJ and the registration of the decision with the Notary Public:
HOMOLOGATION OF CONSENSUAL DIVORCE PURE OR SIMPLE:
Simple or pure consensual divorce: consists exclusively in the dissolution of the marriage, without involving custody of children, maintenance or sharing of property. In this case, it is not necessary to homologate the foreign decision with the STJ but to request the registration of the divorce directly with the Civil Registry Office in Brazil.
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We specialize in all procedures required for the registration of simple or pure consensual divorces, without the need for any judicial homologation, at all Civil Registry Offices in Brazil.
MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE OF BRAZILIANS ABROAD
It is necessary that, after the marriage in foreign territory, the Brazilian party registers the marriage at the Brazilian Consulate and transfers it to a Notary’s Office in the city where it has its residence in Brazil or, if it has no residence in Brazil, it must do so at the Civil Registry Office in the Federal District, in Brasília.
In case of divorce, it must be homologated in the STJ and registered in the same notary office where the transcription of the marriage was made. Annotation of divorce is the act of writing down the divorce homologated by the STJ in the seat of the marriage.
DIVORCE AND REGULARIZATION OF DOCUMENTS
Only after these procedures, the Brazilian can regularize his name and marital status and can update or renew the Brazilian documents, such as voter’s title, CPF, passport, etc..
In case the Brazilian spouse remarries and has not ratified the divorce of the previous marriage: it will not be possible to issue a passport, with the name changed by the current marriage, without the submission of the divorce homologation of the previous marriage.
THE IMPORTANCE OF REGISTERING THE MARRIAGE AND
THE HOMOLOGATION OF THE DIVORCE
The importance of marriage registration and divorce homologation is directly linked to property issues: existence of debts, division of assets by death, inheritance, divorce, etc.
THE IMPORTANCE OF APPOINTING A LAWYER AT THE PLACE OF JUDGMENT
In order to request the homologation, the divorced Brazilian spouse must appoint a lawyer qualified in Brazil (or, when applicable, a Public Defender of the Union) or even lawyers residing in Europe who are registered with the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) and have specific knowledge in homologations of foreign sentences.
Normally, the Brazilian spouse believes that appointing a lawyer in Brazil will have less costs than requesting the services of a lawyer specialized in international homologation abroad. This is a common mistake because, sometimes, the costs will be doubled or tripled, depending on whether the lawyer hired in Brazil really has the deep knowledge of homologation of a foreign sentence.