Proposals for changes in Family and Inheritance Law

On April 17th, the draft reform of the Civil Code was submitted to the Federal Senate. If approved, it will bring significant changes to Family Law and Inheritance Law.

In Family Law, modifications are foreseen such as the possibility of unilateral and extrajudicial divorce or dissolution of a stable union. Thus, one spouse, assisted by a lawyer, may request the dissolution of the union at the Civil Registry Office, and after notifying the other spouse or partner, the divorce will be registered.

Currently, for a divorce or dissolution of a stable union to occur extrajudicially, both parties must sign a public deed to that effect, by mutual agreement.

The possibility of changing the property regime extrajudicially, rather than through judicial proceedings, is also foreseen; in addition, it will be possible to establish, through a prenuptial agreement, that a certain property regime will be in effect for a specific period, after which another regime will apply.

It is worth mentioning that changing the marital property regime, whether stipulated in a prenuptial agreement or defined during the course of the marriage or stable union, will remain possible only with the consent of the couple and without retroactive effect.

Regarding inheritance law, the main proposed change is the exclusion of the spouse from the list of necessary heirs. Therefore, if the new text is approved, the spouse will only be an heir in the absence of descendants and ascendants.

The reform of the Civil Code still has a long way to go in the legislative houses, but since the proposed changes will impact personal and patrimonial decisions of families, planning remains the best choice.