Divorce Granted in Portugal: STJ Recognition or Annotation at the Registry Office

In short: a divorce granted in Portugal only shows up in the Brazilian records after it is annotated on your marriage certificate in Brazil. If the divorce was by mutual consent and dealt only with ending the marriage, going to the registry office (cartório) is enough. If it also decided on children, support or division of property, or if it was a contested divorce, it must first go through Brazil's Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

Many people get divorced in Portugal and think the matter is closed. But, for the Brazilian registry office, the person is still married. That only changes with the annotation (averbação), which is the entry of the divorce on the Brazilian marriage certificate. In this article, we explain the route from Portugal to Brazil, step by step.

If your case is the opposite, a divorce granted in Brazil that needs to be valid in Portugal, read Divorce granted in Brazil: how to have it recognized in Portugal. If you have not divorced yet and want to know in which country to do it, see the article on divorce for Brazilians living in Portugal.

Why a Portuguese divorce is not valid on its own in Brazil

The rule is in the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure (CPC). A decision from another country is only valid in Brazil after recognition (homologação), the procedure in which the STJ reviews and validates the foreign decision (Art. 961 of the CPC).

There is one exception. An uncontested divorce, that is, one granted by mutual agreement, is valid in Brazil without recognition (Art. 961, § 5, of the CPC). Even so, the registry offices of the two countries do not communicate with each other. You must take the divorce to the Brazilian registry office.

Until that happens, the Brazilian certificate still says "married". The problem usually appears at the worst moment. For example: to marry again in Brazil, the registry office asks for the certificate with the divorce recorded (Art. 1,525, item V, of the Civil Code). It can also get in the way of selling a property or of estate inventory proceedings.

First step: find out which type of divorce you have

The rules for registry offices are in the CNJ National Code of Rules, issued by Brazil's National Council of Justice (CNJ Provision 149/2023). It replaced the former Provision 53/2016, which was revoked. Art. 464 divides divorce by mutual agreement into two types:

The STJ Help Center confirms: only a divorce that deals solely with ending the marriage, with no custody, support or partition, is exempt from recognition.

Example: Paula and Marcos divorced at the court in Faro, by mutual agreement, with no children and no property to divide. The judgment only declares the divorce. It is a pure divorce: Paula can go straight to the registry office in Brazil.

What if the divorce was granted at the Civil Registry Office?

In Portugal, a couple in agreement can divorce at the Civil Registry Office (Conservatória do Registo Civil), the equivalent of the Brazilian civil registry office, without going to court. To do so, the couple submits several agreements (Art. 1775 of the Portuguese Civil Code):

• the list of the couple's assets, or the agreement on the partition;
• the agreement on minor children, if any (in Portugal, called the agreement on "parental responsibilities");
• the agreement on support for the former spouse who needs it;
• the agreement on who keeps the family home;
• the prenuptial agreement, if any.

The decision of the registrar (conservador), the official in charge of the registry office, has the same effect as a court judgment (Art. 1776). In Brazil, it can be annotated or recognized as if it were a judgment (Art. 961, § 1, of the CPC, and Art. 464 of the National Code of Rules).

The tricky point is the agreements. Here are two examples:

• No minor children, no partition and no support: Júlia and Rafael only submitted the list of assets and declared that neither of them needs support. There are good arguments for treating the case as a pure divorce and requesting direct annotation.
• With an agreement on the children: Carla and Pedro have an 8-year-old son and made a custody agreement. The decision deals with custody, so the divorce is qualified (Art. 464, § 3). They need STJ recognition.

The registry office decides first. So, send a copy of the decision in advance and ask whether the registry office accepts direct annotation.

Route 1: direct annotation at the registry office

For a pure divorce, you do not need the STJ, a judge or a lawyer (Art. 464, §§ 1 and 2, of the National Code of Rules). The request is made at the registry office where your marriage is recorded.

Documents the registry office asks for (Art. 465)

• a full copy of the Portuguese judgment or decision;
• proof that the decision is final and unappealable, that is, that no further appeal is possible;
• sworn translation;
• apostille (explained further below).

About the translation: the Portuguese decision is already in Portuguese. The CPC only requires translation of documents in a foreign language (Art. 192, sole paragraph). But Art. 465 does not make this distinction. Before paying for a translation, ask the registry office whether it is needed.

It also helps to bring the Portuguese marriage certificate with the divorce already annotated.

Want to go back to your maiden name?

You need to prove one of these things: that the decision authorizes the return to your maiden name, that Portuguese law allows it, or that the Portuguese record already shows your maiden name (Art. 466). In practice, the updated Portuguese certificate usually works.

Step by step

1. In Portugal, request the certificate of the judgment or of the Civil Registry Office decision.
2. Request the Portuguese marriage certificate with the divorce annotated, if the marriage is registered in Portugal.
3. Get the documents apostilled in Portugal.
4. Ask the Brazilian registry office whether your divorce is a pure divorce and which documents it wants.
5. Submit the annotation request. The registry office keeps the documents (Art. 467).
6. Request the new marriage certificate, now showing the divorce.

What if you got married in Portugal?

Many Brazilian couples married in Portugal and never registered the marriage in Brazil. In that case, there is no Brazilian certificate on which to annotate the divorce.

First you need the transcription (traslado), which is the registration in Brazil of a marriage celebrated abroad. It is done at the 1st Registry Office (1º Ofício) of the city where you live in Brazil or, if you have no known domicile in Brazil, at the 1st Registry Office of the Federal District (Art. 32, § 1, of Law 6,015/1973; Art. 462 of the National Code of Rules). After that comes the annotation of the divorce. Ask the registry office whether it accepts both requests together.

Route 2: recognition by the STJ

If the divorce was qualified or contested, the Portuguese decision must be recognized first. The STJ does not rule on the divorce again. It only checks whether the decision meets certain requirements (Art. 963 of the CPC):

• it was issued by a competent authority;
• the other party was served, that is, officially notified of the proceedings, even if they did not take part;
• it is effective in the country where it was issued;
• it does not conflict with a final Brazilian decision on the same matter;
• it does not offend public policy, that is, the basic values of Brazilian law.

The request is filed by a lawyer registered with the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). The STJ Internal Rules require the original decision or a certified copy (Art. 216-C) and proof that it is final (Art. 216-D). The former spouse is notified and may respond. If they agree, everything tends to be simpler. The STJ does not publish an average processing time.

What the STJ does not recognize

The division of property located in Brazil can only be done by the Brazilian courts (Arts. 23, item III, and 964 of the CPC). Example: if the Lisbon judgment divided an apartment in Belo Horizonte, the STJ can recognize the divorce, but not that division. The partition of the apartment will have to be done in Brazil. The law allows only part of the decision to be recognized (Art. 961, § 2).

After recognition, the registry office annotates the divorce using the STJ's certified copy of the judgment (carta de sentença) (Art. 463 of the National Code of Rules). More details on the page about recognition of foreign judgments.

The apostille on Portuguese documents

The apostille is an official certification confirming that a public document is genuine, for use in another country. Brazil and Portugal are parties to the Apostille Convention (in Brazil, Decree 8,660/2016). So there is no need to go through the consulate.

In Portugal, apostilles are issued by the Office of the Attorney General (Procuradoria-Geral da República) and some regional prosecutor's offices (Decree-Law 86/2009). Electronic documents receive an electronic apostille, requested through the platform indicated by the Public Prosecutor's Office. See also the page on apostille and document translation.

Checklist

• Full certificate of the judgment or of the Civil Registry Office decision.
• Proof that the decision is final.
• Portuguese marriage certificate with the divorce annotated, if any.
• Apostille on all Portuguese documents.
• Brazilian marriage certificate, or the transcription, if the marriage took place in Portugal.
• Identity document.
• For the STJ: a power of attorney for the lawyer and, if possible, the former spouse's consent.

Common mistakes

• Assuming Brazil already knows about the divorce. Without annotation, the certificate still says "married".
• Going straight to the registry office with a divorce that deals with children, support or property. The registry office will likely refuse and ask for recognition.
• Forgetting the transcription of a marriage celebrated in Portugal. Without it, there is nowhere to annotate the divorce.
• Trying to divide a property in Brazil with the Portuguese decision. That part is not recognized.
• Bringing documents without an apostille. The apostille is done in Portugal, not in Brazil.
• Mixing up the two routes. STJ recognition is for making the Portuguese decision valid in Brazil. For a Brazilian decision to be valid in Portugal, the route is the recognition (review) of a foreign judgment in Portugal.

If the divorce involved children, see also the pages on child custody between Brazil and Portugal and international child support.

• Law 13,105/2015 — Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) (Arts. 23, 192, 961, 963 and 964)
• CNJ Provision 149/2023 — National Code of Rules for Out-of-Court Services (Arts. 462 to 467)
• STJ — Help Center (Central de Ajuda): which acts must be recognized by the STJ
• STJ Internal Rules (Regimento Interno do STJ) (Arts. 216-A to 216-N)
• Law 6,015/1973 — Public Registries Act (Lei de Registros Públicos) (Art. 32)
• Law 10,406/2002 — Civil Code (Art. 1,525, item V)
• Portuguese Civil Code — Decree-Law 47344/66 (Arts. 1775 and 1776)
• Decree 8,660/2016 (Decreto) — Apostille Convention
• Public Prosecutor's Office (Portugal) — Apostille service (Decree-Law 86/2009)

Sene & Araújo Sociedade de Advogados team. Content prepared and reviewed by the firm's lawyers, admitted to the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and the Portuguese Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados), with offices in São Paulo and Albufeira. The provisions cited were checked against the official sources listed above. Meet the team.