By Alberto Feitosa da Silva Filho, attorney at Lassori Advogados
Bill No. 196/2024, authored by Congresswoman Laura Carneiro (PSD-RJ), proposes a significant change to the Civil Code, in particular to Article 1,879 of said legal statute, where it adds a sole paragraph to its wording:
“Art. 1,879. In exceptional circumstances declared in the instrument, the emergency will, which must be written in the testator’s own hand and signed by the testator, without witnesses, may be confirmed.
Sole paragraph. The emergency will shall lapse if the testator does not die under the exceptional circumstances that justified it, nor confirms it under one of the ordinary forms within the ninety days following the end of the context in which it was drawn up.” (NR)
It is important to mention that the Civil Code, in its Article 1,879, authorizes the private will to be made in one’s own hand, signed by the testator without there being witnesses, in special circumstances, respecting the testator’s will in an emergency.
The fact is that the law does not provide for the expiration term of said document, which raises the question of until when and under what conditions said will could be validated.
Thus, if approved, it will bring two new features: (i) the requirement that the testator come to die from the aforementioned exceptional circumstance, and (ii) that this occur within the term of ninety days.
This is because the bill provides for the need for confirmation through ordinary forms, observing the legal rules, within the term mentioned above, under penalty of loss of the right.
In this way, with the approval of said law, the private will may be in force for a maximum of ninety days, and shall lose its effectiveness if not regularized.
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