Divorce in Brazil: How It Works, the Three Routes, and How to Divorce from Abroad

Published October 15, 2026.

Divorce in Brazil is simpler than most people abroad expect, and less uniform than the short answers online suggest. Readers abroad ask the same questions: is divorce legal in Brazil, how do I get a divorce in Brazil, can I do it from abroad, what happens to the property and the children, how long does it take, what does it cost. This article answers them from the texts in force as I read them on October 15, 2026 — the official texts listed in the legal note. I am Luiz Barros, a Brazilian attorney (OAB/AL 7.530), and where the texts leave a question open, I say so.

Divorce in Brazil in one answer

Divorce in Brazil is no-fault and a right of either spouse, with no waiting period and no fault to prove (Constitution, article 226, § 6, as amended in 2010; Supreme Federal Court, Theme 1,053). There are three routes. A public deed at a notary (cartório) of your choice, when both spouses agree, are assisted by a lawyer and there is no unborn child (Code of Civil Procedure, article 733) — and, under the National Council of Justice's 2024 amendment, even with minor or incapable children, provided custody, visitation and support were already settled in court and the notary accepts the deed on that basis. A court case, when the spouses disagree or the children's matters are still open. And, for two Brazilians abroad with no minor or incapable children, the Brazilian consulate — where the post performs the act at all. The notary route can be used without traveling to Brazil, through a public power of attorney or, where the notary accepts it, by videoconference.

Is divorce legal in Brazil? Divorce laws since 1977: when divorce was legalized, and what changed in 2010

Yes, and today it is unconditional. The history explains Civil Code articles that still read like a waiting period, and people whose status is “separated”.

Brazil legalized divorce in 1977, but only after a prior separation. Constitutional Amendment 9, of June 28, 1977, rewrote the Constitution then in force:

§ 1º - O casamento somente poderá ser dissolvido, nos casos expressos em lei, desde que haja prévia separação judicial por mais de três anos

§ 1. Marriage may only be dissolved, in the cases expressly provided in law, provided there has been a prior judicial separation for more than three years

Law 6,515, of December 26, 1977, regulated it. Article 2 of the same amendment allowed, for separations that began before it, a de facto separation of five years proven in court instead. So the honest answer to “when was divorce legalized in Brazil” is 1977 — with a condition attached. The 1988 Constitution kept the divorce and shortened the wait; the Supreme Federal Court's own summary of its 2023 judgment puts it this way: “O texto original da Constituição previu a dissolução do casamento civil pelo divórcio, mas exigia a separação judicial prévia por mais de um ano ou a comprovação da separação de fato por mais de dois anos.” — the original text provided for divorce but required a prior judicial separation of more than one year or proof of a de facto separation of more than two.

Constitutional Amendment 66, of July 13, 2010, removed every condition. Its heading says it suppresses “o requisito de prévia separação judicial por mais de 1 (um) ano ou de comprovada separação de fato por mais de 2 (dois) anos”, and the Constitution now reads, in full:

§ 6º O casamento civil pode ser dissolvido pelo divórcio.

§ 6. Civil marriage may be dissolved by divorce.

That sentence is the whole of Brazil's divorce law at the constitutional level, and it is what people mean when they call Brazil a no-fault system. It names no reason to prove and no time to wait. But the Civil Code was never rewritten to match. It still lists judicial separation among the ways a marital partnership ends (article 1,571, III), and article 1,580 still reads like a waiting room:

Art. 1.580. Decorrido um ano do trânsito em julgado da sentença que houver decretado a separação judicial, ou da decisão concessiva da medida cautelar de separação de corpos, qualquer das partes poderá requerer sua conversão em divórcio. […] O divórcio poderá ser requerido, por um ou por ambos os cônjuges, no caso de comprovada separação de fato por mais de dois anos.

Article 1,580. One year after the judgment decreeing the judicial separation, or the decision granting the provisional measure of separation of bodies, has become final, either party may request its conversion into divorce. […] Divorce may be requested by one or both spouses in the case of a proven de facto separation of more than two years.

The Supreme Federal Court settled the conflict on November 8, 2023, in the case registered as Theme 1,053 of general repercussion (RE 1,167,478, reported by Justice Luiz Fux; the court's page records the judgment as final on March 16, 2024). The thesis it fixed:

Após a promulgação da Emenda Constitucional 66/2010, a separação judicial não é mais requisito para o divórcio, nem subsiste como figura autônoma no ordenamento jurídico. Sem prejuízo, preserva-se o estado civil das pessoas que já estão separadas por decisão judicial ou escritura pública, por se tratar de um ato jurídico perfeito

After the promulgation of Constitutional Amendment 66/2010, judicial separation is no longer a requirement for divorce, nor does it subsist as an autonomous institution in the legal system. Notwithstanding, the civil status of persons who are already separated by judicial decision or public deed is preserved, as a perfected legal act.

The first half means the judicial separation listed in article 1,571, III, and the waiting periods of article 1,580 no longer stand between you and a divorce; in the court's own summary, divorce “deixou de ter qualquer requisito, a não ser a vontade dos cônjuges” — no longer has any requirement other than the spouses' will. No minimum time married or separated applies. The second means someone who was separated — by court decision or by public deed — before the judgment is still “separated”, not divorced — and needs a divorce to remarry. If your Brazilian spouse's documents say separado judicialmente, that is the reason.

The notary route: divorce by public deed at a cartório

The fastest of the three routes is the one that involves no judge: a Brazilian divorce signed before a notary. The Code of Civil Procedure allows it in article 733:

Art. 733. O divórcio consensual, a separação consensual e a extinção consensual de união estável, não havendo nascituro ou filhos incapazes e observados os requisitos legais, poderão ser realizados por escritura pública […] § 1º A escritura não depende de homologação judicial e constitui título hábil para qualquer ato de registro, bem como para levantamento de importância depositada em instituições financeiras. § 2º O tabelião somente lavrará a escritura se os interessados estiverem assistidos por advogado ou por defensor público, cuja qualificação e assinatura constarão do ato notarial.

Article 733. Consensual divorce, consensual separation and the consensual dissolution of a stable union, there being no unborn child or incapable children and the legal requirements being met, may be carried out by public deed […] § 1. The deed does not depend on judicial approval and is a valid title for any act of registration, as well as for withdrawing amounts deposited with financial institutions. § 2. The notary shall only draw up the deed if the parties are assisted by a lawyer or by a public defender, whose details and signature shall appear in the notarial act.

The deed is not reviewed by a court (§ 1), and a lawyer is part of the act (§ 2). The National Council of Justice's Resolution 35/2007, which governs these deeds for every notary in the country, repeats the point in article 8 — “É necessária a presença do advogado, dispensada a procuração, ou do defensor público, na lavratura das escrituras aqui referidas, nelas constando seu nome e registro na OAB.” — the presence of a lawyer, without need of a power of attorney, or of a public defender is required, with their name and Bar registration in the deed — and article 9 forbids the notary to recommend a lawyer to the parties; if they cannot afford one, the notary points them to the Public Defender's Office where there is one or, failing that, to the local section of the Brazilian Bar. Neither the Code nor the Resolution says each spouse needs a lawyer of their own.

Which notary. Any one, anywhere in Brazil. Article 1 of the Resolution, in the wording of 2024:

Art. 1º Para a lavratura dos atos notariais relacionados a inventário, partilha, divórcio, declaração de separação de fato e extinção de união estável consensuais por via administrativa, é livre a escolha do tabelião de notas, não se aplicando as regras de competência do Código de Processo Civil.

Article 1. For drawing up notarial acts relating to probate, partition, divorce, the declaration of de facto separation and the dissolution of a stable union, consensual and by administrative means, the choice of notary is free, the jurisdiction rules of the Code of Civil Procedure not applying.

Which office, exactly. Here the most widely read answers go wrong. The deed is drawn up by a tabelião de notas — a notary. It is then taken to a different office, the civil registry where the marriage is recorded, for the annotation. Both offices are called cartório in everyday Portuguese, which is where the confusion comes from; one search summary I read on October 15 sends readers to sign the deed at a “civil registry notary office”. Article 40 of the Resolution separates the two steps:

Art. 40. O traslado da escritura pública de divórcio consensual será apresentado ao Oficial de Registro Civil do respectivo assento de casamento, para a averbação necessária, independente de autorização judicial e de audiência do Ministério Público.

Article 40. The certified copy of the public deed of consensual divorce shall be presented to the Civil Registry Officer of the respective marriage record, for the necessary annotation, regardless of judicial authorization and of hearing the Public Prosecutor's Office.

What you bring. Article 33 lists the documents for the deed:

Art. 33. Para a lavratura da escritura pública de divórcio consensual, deverão ser apresentados: a) certidão de casamento; b) documento de identidade oficial e CPF/MF; c) pacto antenupcial, se houver; d) certidão de nascimento ou outro documento de identidade oficial dos filhos, se houver; e) certidão de propriedade de bens imóveis e direitos a eles relativos; e f) documentos necessários à comprovação da titularidade dos bens móveis e direitos, se houver.

Article 33. To draw up the public deed of consensual divorce, the following shall be presented: a) the marriage certificate; b) an official identity document and CPF; c) the prenuptial agreement, if any; d) the birth certificate or another official identity document of the children, if any; e) certificates of ownership of real property and related rights; and f) the documents needed to prove ownership of movable property and rights, if any.

Item “b” is the one that stops foreign spouses: the CPF, Brazil's taxpayer number, is listed for both parties. A foreign spouse who never had one gets it first — how, and from where, is in the firm's article on the CPF for foreigners. The deed also records the spouses' declarations: whether they have children in common and, if so, their names, dates of birth and whether any is incapable (article 34); that the wife is not pregnant, or at least does not know of a pregnancy (article 34, § 1); and that they understand the consequences of the divorce and refuse reconciliation (article 35). The notary may refuse the deed, in writing, where there are well-founded signs of harm to one spouse or doubts about either one's will (article 46).

Minor children: what the Code says and what the CNJ changed in 2024

Yes, a notary can take a divorce with minor or incapable children — but only after a judge has decided custody, visitation and support, and on the strength of the CNJ's rule, not of the Code's text.

This is the point on which the usual answer — “the cartório route requires that there be no minor children” — is half a rule. Article 733 of the Code, quoted above, does still say “não havendo nascituro ou filhos incapazes”. But on August 26, 2024, Resolution 571 of the National Council of Justice rewrote article 34 of Resolution 35:

§ 2º Havendo filhos comuns do casal menores ou incapazes, será permitida a lavratura da escritura pública de divórcio, desde que devidamente comprovada a prévia resolução judicial de todas as questões referentes à guarda, visitação e alimentos deles, o que deverá ficar consignado no corpo da escritura. […] § 3º Na dúvida quanto às questões de interesse do menor ou do incapaz, o tabelião submeterá a questão à apreciação do juiz prolator da decisão.

§ 2. Where the couple has common children who are minors or incapable, drawing up the public deed of divorce shall be permitted, provided the prior judicial resolution of all questions concerning their custody, visitation and support is duly proven, which shall be recorded in the body of the deed. […] § 3. In case of doubt regarding questions of interest to the minor or incapable person, the notary shall submit the question to the judge who rendered the decision.

Article 35, in the same wording, adds to the spouses' declarations their agreement with the custody, family contact and support arrangements for minor or incapable children “realizada em juízo” — made in court. So there are two texts — the Code and the CNJ's resolution, quoted above — and I state both as they are. I am not telling you the resolution overrides the law, or that the law makes the resolution void; neither question has been decided in any text I read. What the two texts together mean in practice is this: with minor children, the children's matters go through a court first; the divorce itself may then go to a notary, if the notary you choose accepts it on those terms. Ask before you book.

The unborn child is a separate point. The resolution keeps the declaration about pregnancy (article 34, § 1) and the Code keeps the words “não havendo nascituro”; neither text, as I read them, provides a deed route while a pregnancy is known.

The court route: uncontested petition or contested divorce

When a deed is not available or not wanted, the divorce process runs through a family court — the route the deed itself was created to spare. It takes one of two shapes.

Uncontested: a joint petition. Article 731 of the Code of Civil Procedure lets both spouses ask the judge to approve their agreement, and says what it must contain:

Art. 731. A homologação do divórcio ou da separação consensuais, observados os requisitos legais, poderá ser requerida em petição assinada por ambos os cônjuges, da qual constarão: I - as disposições relativas à descrição e à partilha dos bens comuns; II - as disposições relativas à pensão alimentícia entre os cônjuges; III - o acordo relativo à guarda dos filhos incapazes e ao regime de visitas; e IV - o valor da contribuição para criar e educar os filhos. Parágrafo único. Se os cônjuges não acordarem sobre a partilha dos bens, far-se-á esta depois de homologado o divórcio […]

Article 731. Approval of consensual divorce or separation, the legal requirements being met, may be requested by a petition signed by both spouses, which shall contain: I - the provisions on the description and division of the common assets; II - the provisions on alimony between the spouses; III - the agreement on custody of the incapable children and on visitation; and IV - the amount of the contribution to raise and educate the children. Sole paragraph. If the spouses do not agree on the division of the assets, it shall be done after the divorce is approved […]

That list is also the checklist for the deed — article 733 sends the deed to “the provisions of article 731”. Property, alimony (spousal support, pensão alimentícia entre os cônjuges), custody and visitation, and child support are four separate items, and an agreement that forgets one is incomplete.

Contested. When there is no agreement, one spouse files and the other is brought in. Family actions have a chapter of their own in the Code, and article 694 sets its tone: “Nas ações de família, todos os esforços serão empreendidos para a solução consensual da controvérsia” — in family actions, every effort shall be made toward a consensual solution. Under article 695 the judge orders the defendant served to attend a mediation and conciliation hearing; service is made on the defendant personally (§ 3), and at the hearing the parties must be accompanied by their lawyers or public defenders (§ 4). If there is no agreement, the case continues under the common procedure (article 697). Only the spouses may ask for the divorce — or, if a spouse is incapable of suing or defending, the curator, an ascendant or a sibling (Civil Code, article 1,582 and sole paragraph). After Theme 1,053, what a contested case really disputes is the terms — property, support, custody and visitation.

Which court. Article 53, I, of the Code sets the forum: the domicile of the guardian of an incapable child; failing that, the couple's last domicile; if neither spouse still lives there, the defendant's domicile; and, in cases of domestic and family violence, the victim's domicile.

How to get a divorce in Brazil from abroad

Usually through a notary in Brazil, with each absent spouse signing a public power of attorney or, if the notary accepts it, joining by e-Notariado videoconference; the consulate is an option only for two Brazilians with no minor or incapable children, and only where the post performs it.

1. A public power of attorney. The deed does not require the spouses in person. Article 36 of Resolution 35:

Art. 36. O comparecimento pessoal das partes é dispensável à lavratura de escritura pública de divórcio consensual, sendo admissível ao(s) divorciando(s) se fazer representar por mandatário constituído, desde que por instrumento público com poderes especiais, descrição das cláusulas essenciais e prazo de validade de trinta dias.

Article 36. The personal attendance of the parties is not required to draw up a public deed of consensual divorce, the divorcing spouse(s) being allowed to be represented by an appointed attorney-in-fact, provided this is by public instrument with special powers, a description of the essential clauses and a validity period of thirty days.

Four conditions, which the answers that say “just grant a power of attorney” usually omit: a public instrument; special powers for this divorce; a description of the deed's essential clauses; and a validity of thirty days. Thirty days is short when the document has to cross an ocean, so it is the last thing to sign, not the first. The National Code of Rules also provides for an electronic public power of attorney (article 303, sole paragraph); which notary may draw it up for someone abroad is discussed in hiring a Brazilian lawyer from abroad.

Where the power of attorney is signed depends on who signs it. The Consulate General in London writes, on a page last updated July 21, 2022: “It is not necessary to travel to Brazil. Having a representative in Brazil, appointed by proxy for the purpose of divorce will suffice. The Consulate can only issue a power of attorney to a Brazilian spouse. In case of foreign spouses, the power of attorney must be drawn by a British notary public, and subsequently be legalised by the FCO.” That is London's own rule. Other official texts I read speak of the apostille for foreign documents headed to a Brazilian registry — article 465 of the National Code of Rules accepts “chancela consular ou apostilamento”, and the Embassy in Helsinki asks for documents apostilled by the Finnish authority. What the apostille certifies and what still comes after it — a sworn translation in Brazil — is in the firm's article on the Brazil apostille, and the three ways of signing a Brazilian power of attorney abroad are compared in hiring a Brazilian lawyer from abroad.

2. The e-Notariado videoconference. Brazilian notaries can act electronically, by videoconference. The National Code of Rules (CNJ Provision 149/2023) says the electronic regime applies in “todos os tabelionatos de notas do País” and that every notary must offer it (article 284 and its sole paragraph). Article 287 sets the method:

Art. 287. Para a lavratura do ato notarial eletrônico, o notário utilizará a plataforma e-Notariado, por meio do link www.e-notariado.org.br, com a realização da videoconferência notarial para captação da vontade das partes e coleta das assinaturas digitais.

Article 287. To draw up the electronic notarial act, the notary shall use the e-Notariado platform, at www.e-notariado.org.br, holding the notarial videoconference to capture the parties' will and collect the digital signatures.

Electronic notarial acts “reputam-se autênticos e detentores de fé pública” (article 299) and produce their legal effects when the legal requirements are met (article 300). Article 289 makes competence for these acts absolute and tied to the territory of the notary's delegation, and article 302 assigns remote deeds to “tabelião de notas da circunscrição do imóvel ou do domicílio do adquirente” — the notary where the property is or where the acquirer lives. Divorce is not named in that article, and article 1 of Resolution 35, which frees the choice of notary, does not mention remote acts. I found no text that settles how the two fit for a divorce. So: confirm with the notary, before anything else, that it will draw up your divorce deed by videoconference with you abroad. The parties sign digitally, exclusively through the e-Notariado (article 286, III).

3. The Brazilian consulate. Since Law 12,874 of October 29, 2013 — in force 120 days after its publication (article 3) — the Law of Introduction has allowed consular divorce. Article 18, as amended by it:

§ 1º As autoridades consulares brasileiras também poderão celebrar a separação consensual e o divórcio consensual de brasileiros, não havendo filhos menores ou incapazes do casal e observados os requisitos legais quanto aos prazos, devendo constar da respectiva escritura pública as disposições relativas à descrição e à partilha dos bens comuns e à pensão alimentícia e, ainda, ao acordo quanto à retomada pelo cônjuge de seu nome de solteiro ou à manutenção do nome adotado quando se deu o casamento. […] § 2º É indispensável a assistência de advogado, devidamente constituído, que se dará mediante a subscrição de petição, juntamente com ambas as partes, ou com apenas uma delas, caso a outra constitua advogado próprio, não se fazendo necessário que a assinatura do advogado conste da escritura pública.

§ 1. Brazilian consular authorities may also perform the consensual separation and the consensual divorce of Brazilians, there being no minor or incapable children of the couple and the legal requirements as to time periods being met, the respective public deed having to contain the provisions on the description and division of the common assets and on alimony and, further, the agreement on a spouse's resumption of the single name or keeping of the name adopted on marriage. […] § 2. The assistance of a duly appointed lawyer is indispensable, given by signing the petition together with both parties, or with only one of them if the other appoints a lawyer of their own, it not being necessary for the lawyer's signature to appear on the public deed.

Three limits are written into that paragraph. It is a divorce “de brasileiros” — of Brazilians; whether a post will act for a couple in which one spouse is a foreigner is not something the text gives, and I would not assume it. It requires no minor or incapable children — and the 2024 change to the CNJ's resolution, which is addressed to notaries in Brazil, did not rewrite this statute. And it depends on the post. The Brazilian Embassy in Helsinki writes, on a page last updated June 20, 2023, that “this consular office will not be authorized to conclude consensual separation and/or divorce, as provided for in Law No. 12,874 of October 29, 2013”, citing the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, and points instead to a public power of attorney and a notary in Brazil. The Consulate General in London writes that “Divorces in the United Kingdom cannot be carried out at the Consulate General of Brazil in London, as British legislation does not recognise divorces carried out at foreign consulates.” Those are the two posts whose pages I read; neither performs the act, and I do not say that any other one does. If you are two Brazilians with no minor or incapable children, ask your post in writing.

Married abroad, or never registered in Brazil: can you divorce here?

A Brazilian court can hear a divorce when the case has a link to Brazil. Article 21 of the Code of Civil Procedure gives Brazilian courts jurisdiction where “o réu, qualquer que seja a sua nacionalidade, estiver domiciliado no Brasil” (I) or where “o fundamento seja fato ocorrido ou ato praticado no Brasil” (III), and article 22, III, adds cases in which the parties submit to Brazilian jurisdiction, expressly or tacitly. On my reading, a marriage celebrated in Brazil is an act performed in Brazil; a defendant living in Brazil is enough on its own. For two foreigners who married abroad, never registered the marriage in Brazil and live elsewhere, those are the only texts I read; whether a case fits them is a reading, not a rule.

The notary route has a practical anchor: the annotation of article 40 is made on a Brazilian marriage record. If a Brazilian married abroad and the marriage was never transcribed into the Brazilian books, Law 6,015/1973, article 32, § 1, requires the foreign or consular record to be transcribed “quando tiverem de produzir efeito no País” — when it is to produce effects in Brazil. The Helsinki page says the same in its own words: “the transcription must be arranged (in Brazil)”. The transcription comes first, and the firm's article on Brazilian residency after divorce lists its documents.

Married in Brazil, divorcing in the US or the UK

You do not have to divorce in Brazil because you married there. The London consulate's page opens with it: “The divorce can take place either in Brazil or in the United Kingdom.” Whether a U.S. or British court will hear your case is a question of that country's law, which I did not read. What I can tell you is what happens when the decree comes back to Brazil: until it enters the Brazilian system, the Brazilian record still shows you married.

There are two doors, and the National Code of Rules draws the line between them. A foreign decree of “divórcio consensual simples ou puro” — consensual, and only dissolving the marriage — is annotated directly at the civil registry, without the Superior Court of Justice and without a lawyer (article 464, §§ 1 and 2), on presentation of the full judgment, proof that it is final, a sworn translation and consular legalization or an apostille (article 465). A consensual decree that also settles custody, support or property — a “qualified” divorce — depends on prior recognition by the Superior Court of Justice (article 464, § 3); a contested decree is outside the direct annotation of article 464 altogether, and the registry annotates the court's carta de sentença once recognition is granted (article 463). The proceeding at that court is the subject of the firm's article on enforcing foreign judgments in Brazil. The National Council of Justice does not itself “recognize” foreign divorces, as one search summary says: the civil registry annotates the simple ones and the Superior Court of Justice recognizes the rest.

Both pages still point to the CNJ's No. 53 — the Helsinki page (updated June 20, 2023) to “Provision nº 53 of the National Justice Council (CNJ)” and the London page (updated July 21, 2022) to “decision No. 53”. That provision was revoked by the National Code of Rules, instituted by CNJ Provision 149 of August 30, 2023 (article 556, XV), and the rules on foreign divorces are now in its articles 463 to 467, quoted above. The Helsinki page adds a point worth knowing before you file anything: “Brazilians who have already been divorced based on foreign legislation, will not be able to avail themselves of a new Brazilian administrative or judicial divorce.” Once a foreign court has divorced you, the Brazilian step is recognition or annotation, not a second Brazilian divorce.

Property in a divorce in Brazil: which regime, which law, which court

Searches for “divorce in Brazil separation of property” usually mean one of two things: the regime called separation of property, or how property is separated at the end. Both depend on a prior question that almost no answer asks — which country's law governs your regime. The Law of Introduction, article 7, § 4:

§ 4º O regime de bens, legal ou convencional, obedece à lei do país em que tiverem os nubentes domicílio, e, se este for diverso, a do primeiro domicílio conjugal.

§ 4. The property regime, legal or contractual, follows the law of the country in which the spouses-to-be were domiciled and, if their domiciles differed, that of the first marital domicile.

Domicile, not citizenship, and not the place of the ceremony. Take a couple who married in the United States and later moved to Brazil: if both were domiciled in the same country when they married, that country's law governs the regime; the first marital domicile decides only if their domiciles differed; and the paragraph contains no rule that changes the regime because the couple later moved. The paragraph speaks of the law of the country; which U.S. state's law that means is my reading, not its text. Likewise, a couple who married in Brazil while both lived in New York may have a regime governed by U.S. law — on my reading, New York's — and a Brazilian notary or judge dividing their assets has to start there. How that rule works, and what a Brazilian or foreign prenuptial agreement changes, is the subject of prenuptial agreements in Brazil for foreigners. Where Brazilian law governs, the regimes are these:

So “50/50” describes partial community at best, and even there article 1,659 does the real work: the apartment you owned before the wedding, and the one you inherited, are not split. Mandatory separation is the regime whose name misleads most. The Supreme Federal Court's Súmula 377 reads: “No regime de separação legal de bens, comunicam-se os adquiridos na constância do casamento.” — under the legal separation of property, assets acquired during the marriage are shared. And on February 1, 2024, in Theme 1,236, the court held that the separation imposed on a spouse over seventy can be set aside:

Nos casamentos e uniões estáveis envolvendo pessoa maior de 70 anos, o regime de separação de bens previsto no artigo 1.641, II, do Código Civil, pode ser afastado por expressa manifestação de vontade das partes mediante escritura pública

In marriages and stable unions involving a person over 70 years of age, the regime of separation of property provided for in article 1,641, II, of the Civil Code may be set aside by the express manifestation of the parties' will by public deed

For people over seventy who are already married, the court's release adds that they “podem alterar o regime de bens, mas para isso é necessário autorização judicial (no caso do casamento)” and that “a alteração produzirá efeitos patrimoniais apenas para o futuro” — the change needs a court and affects only what comes after it. At divorce, that means looking at the dates: what was acquired before a change stays under the old regime.

Which court divides property in Brazil. Only a Brazilian one. The Code of Civil Procedure, article 23, III, reserves to Brazilian courts, “com exclusão de qualquer outra”, the power “em divórcio, separação judicial ou dissolução de união estável, proceder à partilha de bens situados no Brasil, ainda que o titular seja de nacionalidade estrangeira ou tenha domicílio fora do território nacional” — to the exclusion of any other, to divide assets located in Brazil in a divorce, judicial separation or dissolution of a stable union, even if the owner is a foreign national or domiciled abroad. A divorce decree from Texas or London can end the marriage; the Code reserves the division of a São Paulo apartment to Brazilian courts. In Brazil itself the division can wait: “O divórcio pode ser concedido sem que haja prévia partilha de bens.” (Civil Code, article 1,581), and article 731's sole paragraph lets the division come after the divorce is approved.

If the division is done in the deed, Resolution 35 sets two rules. The deed must distinguish each spouse's separate assets from the common ones, according to the regime (article 37). And where one spouse's separate property passes to the other, or the common assets are divided unequally, “deverá ser comprovado o recolhimento do tributo devido sobre a fração transferida” — payment of the tax due on the transferred fraction must be proven (article 38). Resolution 35 does not name the tax; I state no tax and no rate.

Children, custody, child support and alimony

Custody in Brazil is “unilateral ou compartilhada” — sole or shared (Civil Code, article 1,583). When the parents do not agree, the law points to shared custody:

§ 2º Quando não houver acordo entre a mãe e o pai quanto à guarda do filho, encontrando-se ambos os genitores aptos a exercer o poder familiar, será aplicada a guarda compartilhada, salvo se um dos genitores declarar ao magistrado que não deseja a guarda da criança ou do adolescente ou quando houver elementos que evidenciem a probabilidade de risco de violência doméstica ou familiar.

§ 2. Where there is no agreement between the mother and the father on the child's custody, both parents being fit to exercise parental authority, shared custody shall be applied, unless one parent declares to the judge that he or she does not want custody of the child or adolescent, or where there is evidence of the probability of a risk of domestic or family violence.

That is article 1,584, § 2, as worded in 2023. Support follows article 1,694 of the Civil Code: relatives, spouses and partners may claim from one another “os alimentos de que necessitem para viver de modo compatível com a sua condição social”, fixed in proportion to the needs of the claimant and the resources of the person who pays (§ 1); where the need results from the claimant's own fault, support is limited to what is indispensable for subsistence (§ 2). Alimony between spouses and child support are therefore separate items, and article 731 lists them separately. A support claim may be heard in Brazil when the creditor lives there or the defendant keeps ties there, such as property or income (Code of Civil Procedure, article 22, I).

Under either reading of the notary rule, custody, visitation and support are decided by a judge. If one parent moves the children across a border without the other's consent, a different instrument applies — the Hague Convention of 1980 on the civil aspects of international child abduction, promulgated by Decree 3,413/2000, whose article 3 defines a wrongful removal or retention, whose article 12 orders the child's return — immediately when proceedings start within a year, and afterwards unless the child is shown to be settled in the new environment — and whose article 13 lists the cases in which the authority is not obliged to order it. I deal with it in a Portuguese-language article on binational custody and the Hague Convention.

Your name after the divorce

Nothing forces a change, with one exception. The Civil Code, article 1,571, § 2: “Dissolvido o casamento pelo divórcio direto ou por conversão, o cônjuge poderá manter o nome de casado; salvo, no segundo caso, dispondo em contrário a sentença de separação judicial” — the spouse may keep the married name, unless, in a divorce by conversion of an earlier judicial separation, the separation judgment provided otherwise. A consular deed must state the choice (Law of Introduction, article 18, § 1), and when a deed changes a name, the civil registry that annotates the divorce also annotates the birth record, or tells the registry that holds it (Resolution 35, article 41). For a foreign decree, the National Code of Rules, article 466, asks for an express provision in the judgment, a foreign law allowing the change, or a foreign civil-registry document showing it. Decide once and carry the decision to your passport, your CPF and any immigration record together.

How long does it take to get a divorce in Brazil, and how much does it cost?

You will find precise numbers online for each route. None came with an official source, and I found none, so I give no number. Here is what decides the divorce process calendar instead.

How long does it take. The deed is the fastest route because nothing after it waits for a judge: it “não depende de homologação judicial” (Code of Civil Procedure, article 733, § 1). What decides your calendar is what comes before the signature: the marriage certificate (and, for a Brazilian married abroad, the transcription); a CPF for each spouse; the property documents; the thirty-day power of attorney if someone signs from abroad; and, with minor children, the court decision on custody, visitation and support that the deed must cite. In court, the calendar is the court's.

Cost. Resolution 35 sets no amount. Its article 4 says notarial fees must match the actual cost and adequate remuneration of the service under Law 10,169/2000, and article 5 forbids fees calculated as a percentage of the value of the transaction. I read no fee table. Everywhere, the deed may be free — “basta a simples declaração dos interessados de que não possuem condições de arcar com os emolumentos, ainda que as partes estejam assistidas por advogado constituído” (article 7) — and someone who cannot pay a lawyer is pointed to the Public Defender's Office where there is one or, failing that, the local section of the Brazilian Bar (article 9). Lawyers' fees are agreed with the lawyer, and a division that passes one spouse's separate property to the other, or splits the common assets unequally, may add the tax whose payment article 38 requires to be proven.

After the divorce: the annotation, the certificate, remarrying, residence

The annotation. The deed goes to the civil registry for annotation on the marriage record (Resolution 35, article 40) and must state that the parties were told so (article 43); until then, the record shows you married. Judgments are annotated too (Civil Code, article 10, I: “Far-se-á averbação em registro público: I - das sentenças que decretarem […] o divórcio”).

The divorce certificate. In Brazil the proof of divorce is usually the marriage certificate carrying the annotation. The Helsinki page describes the result of the annotation of a foreign decree: “After the registration is done, the registry office will issue you a Brazilian divorce certificate or they will issue a new marriage certificate with your divorce noted on it.” The London consulate states what it accepts as proof: “The divorced marital status must be attested by the submission of the marriage certificate containing the divorce entry, issued in Brazil.”

Remarrying. “O casamento válido só se dissolve pela morte de um dos cônjuges ou pelo divórcio […]” (Civil Code, article 1,571, § 1). After the divorce you may remarry; a person who is only “separated” may not.

Residence. If your Brazilian residence permit rests on the marriage, the divorce raises a separate question with its own rules and procedure. That is the subject of Brazilian residency after divorce.

Divorce rate in Brazil: what the IBGE counted for 2024

Is divorce common in Brazil? The national statistics office's vital statistics, released December 10, 2025, give the most recent count: “Brazil registered 428,301 divorces granted in the first instance or through out-of-court deeds in 2024, a reduction of 2.8% in relation to 2023 (440,827).” Among people of different sexes there were nearly 45.7 divorces for every 100 marriages registered in 2024, against 47.4 in 2023; the average time between the marriage and the divorce judgment or deed was 13.8 years. That ratio compares the year's divorces with the year's weddings — it is not the share of marriages that end in divorce, a figure the release does not give. For the first time, shared custody was the larger group among court divorces of couples with minor children (44.6%), ahead of custody with the mother (42.6%).

Common mistakes

1. Getting minor children wrong. With minor or incapable children, custody, visitation and support go to court first; only then may a notary take the divorce, and only if it accepts it on that basis (Resolution 35, article 34, §§ 2 and 3; Code of Civil Procedure, article 733).
2. Signing the deed at the civil registry. The deed is drawn up by a notary of your choice (Resolution 35, article 1); the civil registry annotates it afterwards (article 40).
3. A private or open-ended power of attorney. It must be a public instrument with special powers, the essential clauses and a validity of thirty days (article 36).
4. Forgetting the foreign spouse's CPF. It is on the list of documents for both parties (article 33, “b”).
5. Booking the consulate. Consular divorce is for Brazilians with no minor or incapable children and depends on the post; Helsinki and London do not perform it.
6. Assuming the e-Notariado makes any notary competent. The remote-competence article does not name divorce; confirm with the notary first.
7. Dividing Brazilian property in a foreign decree. The Code reserves the division of assets located in Brazil to Brazilian courts, to the exclusion of any other (Code of Civil Procedure, article 23, III).
8. Leaving the annotation for later. Until it is made, Brazil still records you as married.

What I do in your case

I start with four facts: where each spouse lives and of which country each is a national; where and when you married and whether the marriage is recorded in Brazil; whether there are minor or incapable children; and what property there is, and where. Those facts choose the route — notary, court or consulate — and the law that governs the property before anyone signs anything.

For clients abroad, the work is usually the Brazilian end: the marriage transcription if it is missing, the CPF, a power of attorney drafted with the deed's clauses and timed to its thirty days, a notary that will act on your facts, the deed or the petition, and the annotation that closes the file.

What I do not do is promise outcomes or dates; my job is to make sure the file reaches each office complete and in the right order.

Carvalho Barros Advocacia Internacional handles cross-border family matters for Brazilians and foreigners — a Brazilian practice serving clients in more than 30 countries, with international family law as one of its areas. Written communication with the firm is in English; meetings are conducted with an interpreter at no cost to the client. No promise of outcome is made or implied anywhere in this article.

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About the author

Luiz Alberto de Carvalho Barros Filho

Attorney at Law — Brazilian Bar (OAB/AL 7.530)

Brazilian attorney dedicated to private international law and cross-border taxation. Published author in the International Law Deskbook 2.0 (The Florida Bar) and contributor to the International Law Quarterly, also of The Florida Bar.

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Legal note. This article is informational and does not replace individual legal advice, and it makes no promise of outcome or timing (Brazilian Bar Provision OAB No. 205/2021). The provisions supporting it — the Constitution (article 226, § 6, as amended by Constitutional Amendment 66/2010); Constitutional Amendment 9/1977; Law 6,515/1977 (article 1); the Civil Code (articles 1,571, 1,580 to 1,584, 1,639 to 1,641, 1,658 to 1,660, 1,667, 1,668, 1,687, 1,688 and 1,694); the Code of Civil Procedure (articles 21 to 23, 53, 103, 693 to 697, 731 to 733); the Law of Introduction to the Norms of Brazilian Law (articles 7 and 18, the latter as amended by Law 12,874/2013); Law 6,015/1973 (article 32); Decree 3,413/2000 (articles 3, 12 and 13); CNJ Resolution 35/2007 in its consolidated text with the amendments up to Resolution 571/2024 (articles 1, 3 to 9, 33 to 46); and the National Code of Rules, CNJ Provision 149/2023 in its consolidated text (articles 284 to 303, 463 to 467 and 556, XV) — were read on October 15, 2026 on the federal legislation portal and on the National Council of Justice's official acts pages, together with the Supreme Federal Court's news releases and pages on Themes 1,053 and 1,236 and Súmula 377, and the IBGE's release of December 10, 2025. Consulate pages are stated only as each post writes them, with their update dates: the Embassy in Helsinki (updated June 20, 2023) and the Consulate General in London (updated July 21, 2022); no general rule for all posts is implied. Portuguese passages are reproduced from the official texts and English passages from official English pages are reproduced from them; other English renderings are the author's working translation, and the Portuguese is the only authoritative version of Brazilian texts. Declared limits. (i) The relationship between article 733 of the Code of Civil Procedure and article 34, § 2, of Resolution 35 is reported, not decided. (ii) Whether a notary may draw up a divorce deed remotely is not settled by any text read; the article tells the reader to confirm with the notary. (iii) No consular post other than Helsinki and London was read, and none is said to perform divorces. (iv) No fee table, no tax law and no official statistic on duration was read; no amount and no duration are stated. (v) The law of U.S. states and of the United Kingdom on divorce jurisdiction and on the validity of marriages celebrated in Brazil was not read. (vi) Case law of the Superior Court of Justice on Súmula 377 was not read for this article. (vii) Case law of the Superior Court of Justice on article 23, III, of the Code of Civil Procedure — including the recognition of foreign decrees that ratify a consensual division of assets located in Brazil — was not read for this article; the Code is stated as it reads. To review your specific case, contact attorney Luiz Barros — Brazilian Bar, OAB/AL 7.530.