Interview of Juliana Assolari for Infomoney. Read the full article
The committee of jurists responsible for drafting the preliminary draft of the Civil Code Reform delivered to the Federal Senate, at the end of April, the final document with all the changes proposed to the law. But one of the changes has drawn much attention from attorneys and generated controversy by changing the law of succession, excluding spouses from the roster of necessary heirs.
Under current legislation, the mandatory heirs are composed of descendants (children and grandchildren), ascendants (parents and grandparents), and spouses. Spouses are guaranteed a portion of the legitimate inheritance, which corresponds to 50% of the deceased’s estate. With the removal of the spouse, the spouse ceases to receive the inheritance. However, the spouse does not lose the right to the marital share (meação), which provides that partners are entitled to half of the estate built during the relationship.
Marriage regimes currently available
– Partial community of property;
– Universal community of property;
– Conventional separation of property;
– Mandatory separation of property, from the age of 70 (which has recently also come to be relaxed by a decision of the Federal Supreme Court)
– Final participation in acquests (less well known, this regime provides that each spouse has their own estate, the administration of which is exclusive to each one. Assets acquired during the marriage will be shared according to the amount disbursed by each).
Advance
Attorney Juliana Assolari, partner at Lassori Advogados, further adds that the exclusion of the spouse as an heir was already a demand of society within the courts. “If a person wishes to unite with someone, and already has an estate and children, it is legitimate to agree with their new spouse that the estate accumulated up to that date will belong exclusively to the children upon their death,” she explains.
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