Divorcing a Brazilian Spouse While Living Abroad: Where to File

The question usually comes with a map in it. You live in Boston or Berlin; your spouse is Brazilian, and either still lives in São Paulo or lives with you abroad; you married in Brazil, or you married abroad and registered it at the consulate — or never did. There is an apartment in Curitiba in one of your names, or there is nothing in Brazil at all. And the first thing every friend says is “just get divorced here”, while the first thing every relative in Brazil says is “you have to do it in Brazil, otherwise it doesn’t count”.

Both are half right, which is what makes the question dangerous. A divorce granted where you live will almost always end the marriage — there, and usually in Brazil too. But a divorce decree is not one thing; it is a bundle of decisions about the bond, the children, the support, and the property. Each part travels differently. Some parts cross into Brazil with a stamp at the civil registry; some need a proceeding at the Superior Tribunal de Justiça; and one part — the division of anything situated in Brazil — does not cross at all, because Brazilian law reserves it to Brazil.

The pivot this guide turns on is therefore not “which country can grant my divorce?” but “where must this decree work, and what must it do there?” Once you answer that, the choice of forum stops being a matter of convenience and becomes a matter of design: file where the resulting judgment will actually be effective for everything you need it to do, or plan deliberately for a two-country solution.

This is educational content prepared by the ZS Advogados Associados team for people living outside Brazil who are ending a marriage or stable union with a Brazilian partner — foreign spouses, Brazilians abroad, and mixed-nationality couples. It covers when Brazilian courts have jurisdiction, what happens when cases run in two countries at once, how Brazilian assets change the answer, how to reach Brazil without travelling, and how children, support and immigration status fit in. It is the forum-selection companion to our guides on getting a foreign divorce recognised in Brazil and dividing a Brazilian property in a foreign divorce, and builds on the general overview in international divorce in Brazil.

Why does “where to file” matter more than “how to file”?

In a purely domestic divorce, the forum is a formality — the case goes to the court that the venue rules point to, and the judgment binds everyone who matters. In a cross-border divorce, the forum decides three things that are easy to overlook while the emotional questions dominate.

Recognition. A judgment is an act of one state’s authority. It has effect in another state only to the extent that state accepts it. Brazil accepts foreign divorce judgments, but on its own terms and through its own procedures: some by direct registration, some after homologation by the STJ, and some — where they trespass on matters Brazil reserves for itself — not at all. A decree that is perfect in Massachusetts and unusable in Minas Gerais is a common and avoidable outcome.

Assets in Brazil. Brazilian law treats the division of assets situated in Brazil in a divorce as a matter of exclusive national jurisdiction. This is not a preference; it is a rule that instructs the STJ to refuse homologation of the foreign decision on that point. Anyone with a property, a bank account, a company interest or a vehicle in Brazil is, whether they like it or not, going to have a Brazilian chapter in their divorce.

Children and support. Custody and child support are governed by the connecting factors of the child’s and the creditor’s habitual residence and by treaties, not by where the marriage was celebrated. A forum that is convenient for the spouses may have no jurisdiction over a child living in the other country, and a support order made where the debtor has nothing may need to be enforced where the debtor’s income is.

What the decree must do	Where it can be decided	How it reaches Brazil
Dissolve the marriage bond	Either country with jurisdiction	Consensual: direct registration at the civil registry; contested: STJ homologation
Settle custody and visitation	Normally the child’s habitual residence	STJ homologation if decided abroad; Hague 1980 for wrongful removal
Fix child or spousal support	Creditor’s residence, or where debtor has assets/income (CPC art. 22, I)	STJ homologation; treaty channels for enforcement
Divide assets located abroad	The foreign forum, subject to local rules	Not a Brazilian matter unless a party seeks Brazilian effects
Divide assets situated in Brazil	Brazil only (CPC art. 23, III)	Brazilian court or, if consensual, Brazilian notarial deed

Legal basis: foreign decisions produce effects in Brazil only after homologation, except where a statute or treaty provides otherwise (CPC/2015, art. 961); exclusive Brazilian jurisdiction over the partition of assets situated in Brazil in divorce is art. 23, III; refusal of homologation on matters of exclusive jurisdiction is art. 964.

When do Brazilian courts have jurisdiction over your divorce?

Brazil’s rules on international jurisdiction are in arts. 21–25 of the Código de Processo Civil (Lei nº 13.105/2015). They distinguish concurrent jurisdiction — Brazil can hear the case, and so can a foreign court — from exclusive jurisdiction, where only Brazil can.

Under art. 21, Brazilian courts have jurisdiction when the defendant, whatever his or her nationality, is domiciled in Brazil; when the obligation must be performed in Brazil; or when the claim arises from a fact that occurred or an act practised in Brazil. Under art. 22, they also have jurisdiction over alimony claims when the creditor is domiciled or resident in Brazil, or when the defendant maintains ties with Brazil such as owning assets or receiving income there; and whenever the parties submit, expressly or tacitly, to Brazilian jurisdiction. That last ground is why a consensual divorce of two Brazilians living abroad is rarely a jurisdiction problem: they are submitting.

Nationality, notably, is not itself a ground. A Brazilian citizen living in Paris and married to a French national, with no Brazilian assets and no Brazilian defendant, does not carry Brazilian jurisdiction around like a passport. Conversely, a foreigner whose spouse has returned to Recife has a Brazilian forum available under art. 21, I, whether or not either party wants it.

Art. 25 adds that a contractual clause electing an exclusive foreign forum removes Brazilian jurisdiction — but not for the matters listed in art. 23. A prenuptial agreement that says “all disputes in the courts of England” cannot move the division of a Brazilian farm out of Brazil.

Once Brazil has jurisdiction, venue — which court inside Brazil — follows art. 53, I: the domicile of the guardian of an incapable child; failing that, the couple’s last shared domicile; failing that, the defendant’s domicile; and, since Lei nº 13.894/2019, the domicile of the victim where domestic violence is alleged.

Situation	Brazilian jurisdiction?	Basis
Spouse lives in Brazil; you live abroad	Yes (concurrent)	CPC art. 21, I — defendant domiciled in Brazil
Both abroad, married in Brazil, no assets in Brazil, both consent	Yes (concurrent)	Art. 22, III — submission; marriage as act in Brazil (art. 21, III)
Both abroad, married abroad, one Brazilian, no Brazilian ties	Doubtful for a contested case; consent cures it	Art. 22, III
Any configuration with assets situated in Brazil to divide	Yes — exclusive for the partition	Art. 23, III
Child support claimed by a parent living in Brazil	Yes	Art. 22, I, “a”
Foreign-forum clause in a prenup	Removes Brazilian jurisdiction, except art. 23 matters	Art. 25 and §1

Legal basis: CPC/2015, arts. 21 (general grounds), 22 (alimony, consumer, submission), 23 (exclusive jurisdiction), 25 (exclusive foreign forum clause) and 53, I (internal venue for divorce and related actions, as amended by Lei nº 13.894/2019).

Speak to counsel — the grounds are read case by case. Whether a marriage celebrated in Brazil, or a matrimonial obligation performed there, is enough to found jurisdiction for a contested divorce between two people who now live abroad is a question courts answer on the specific facts. Do not assume Brazil is available, or unavailable, without an opinion.

Can I simply divorce where I live and have it recognised in Brazil?

For the marriage bond itself: usually yes, and for many couples this is the sensible route. Brazil has, since 2015, made the recognition of foreign divorces markedly easier than it once was.

The old regime required every foreign judgment — divorce included — to be homologated by the STJ (before 2004, by the Supremo Tribunal Federal) before it produced any effect in Brazil. The CPC/2015 changed that for one category: art. 961, §5 provides that a foreign consensual divorce judgment produces effects in Brazil independently of STJ homologation, and §6 lets any judge examine its validity when the point is raised in a case before that judge. The Conselho Nacional de Justiça then instructed civil registrars, in Provimento nº 53/2016, to annotate directly on the Brazilian marriage record a foreign judgment of simple or pure consensual divorce — one that dissolves the bond and decides nothing about custody, support or property. That provimento was revoked in 2023 and its rule now sits in the Código Nacional de Normas do Foro Extrajudicial (Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023): art. 464 states the rule, §3 confirms that a qualified consensual divorce — one that also disposes of custody, support and/or property — still needs prior STJ homologation, and art. 465 lists what the registrar requires: a complete copy of the judgment, proof that it is final, a sworn official translation, and an apostille or consular seal.

Everything else — a contested divorce, or a consensual one that also settled custody, support or property (the Provimento calls it qualified consensual divorce) — still requires homologation by the STJ under arts. 960–965 of the CPC and arts. 216-A to 216-N of the STJ’s internal rules, followed by registration. Homologation is a contained, largely documentary proceeding when uncontested, but it is a proceeding: months rather than days, a Brazilian lawyer, and the same apostille-and-translation discipline.

One historical relic deserves a warning. Art. 7, §6 of the Lei de Introdução às Normas do Direito Brasileiro, as rewritten by Lei nº 12.036/2009, still says that a foreign divorce involving a Brazilian is recognised only one year after the judgment unless preceded by a year of judicial separation. Emenda Constitucional nº 66/2010 abolished separation and waiting periods as conditions of divorce, and the prevailing reading is that the one-year condition did not survive it. But the text of §6 was never repealed, and a cautious registrar may still cite it. If that happens, the answer is the constitutional amendment, and it is better made in writing than at the counter.

The practical test, then, is simple: if we divorce here, what will the decree contain? A bare dissolution travels easily. A decree that also decides children, support or property must go through the STJ — and if it decides Brazilian property, it will be refused on that point. Our companion guide on STJ homologation versus direct registration at the cartório walks through the documents and the decision tree.

Legal basis: CPC/2015, art. 961, §§5–6 (consensual foreign divorce effective without homologation); Código Nacional de Normas do Foro Extrajudicial (Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023), arts. 463–467, which revoked and replaced Provimento CNJ nº 53/2016 (direct annotation by the civil registrar of simple consensual foreign divorces; art. 464, §3, qualified consensual divorces require prior STJ homologation); CPC arts. 960–965 and RISTJ arts. 216-A to 216-N (homologation); LINDB, art. 7, §6, as amended by Lei nº 12.036/2009, read with EC nº 66/2010.

What changes when there are assets in Brazil?

Everything, for the property chapter. Art. 23, III of the CPC/2015 states that Brazilian courts have jurisdiction, to the exclusion of any other, to proceed with the partition of assets situated in Brazil in a divorce, judicial separation or dissolution of stable union, even if the owner is a foreign national or is domiciled outside Brazil. Art. 964 closes the loop: a foreign decision will not be homologated where Brazilian jurisdiction is exclusive.

The consequence is that a foreign court can grant the divorce and can deal with the house in Lisbon or the account in New York, but the apartment in Curitiba must be partitioned in Brazil. Two routes exist. If the spouses agree, the partition can be done by public deed before a Brazilian notary (Lei nº 11.441/2007; CPC art. 733), with each spouse represented by an attorney-in-fact if they are abroad, and the deed is then registered at the property registry. If they do not agree, a Brazilian court decides the partition — which may be filed after the divorce has been granted elsewhere, because Brazilian law expressly allows divorce without prior partition (Código Civil, art. 1.581; CPC art. 731, sole paragraph).

Two nuances are worth knowing before you plan. First, STJ case law has for years distinguished a foreign decree that imposes a division of Brazilian property from one that merely ratifies an agreement the spouses themselves reached about it; agreed allocations have been homologated in a line of decisions, on the reasoning that the parties, not the foreign court, disposed of the property, and provided the agreement does not offend Brazilian internal law. That line of authority is real but fact-sensitive — it turns on how the decree is worded — and should not be relied on without a current opinion. Second, the regime under which the property is divided is not chosen by the forum: under art. 7, §4 of the LINDB it is governed by the law of the spouses’ domicile at the time of marriage or, if they had different domiciles, of the first conjugal domicile — a rule that can make a Brazilian judge apply a foreign matrimonial regime to a Brazilian property, or a foreign judge look at the Brazilian community-property rules.

Our guide to dividing a Brazilian property in a foreign divorce covers regimes, the partition after a foreign decree, and the registry and tax steps.

Legal basis: CPC/2015, art. 23, III (exclusive jurisdiction over partition of assets situated in Brazil) and art. 964 (no homologation on matters of exclusive jurisdiction); Código Civil (Lei nº 10.406/2002), art. 1.581 (divorce without prior partition); CPC art. 731, sole paragraph (partition after divorce under arts. 647–658); LINDB, art. 7, §4 (law governing the matrimonial regime).

What if my spouse still lives in Brazil — and what if we both file?

A spouse domiciled in Brazil gives Brazilian courts jurisdiction under art. 21, I, and fixes venue under art. 53, I. It also means that a case filed abroad against that spouse must be served in Brazil, which is where many foreign divorces stall. Service of foreign judicial documents on a person in Brazil goes through letters rogatory or, since the 1965 Hague Service Convention entered into force for Brazil on 1 June 2019 (Decreto nº 9.734/2019), through the Central Authority — designated as the Ministério da Justiça e Segurança Pública — with the documents translated into Portuguese. Brazil entered a reservation to Articles 8 and 10 of that Convention and formally objects to those alternative transmission channels, postal service included. Informal service — a courier, an email, a relative handing over papers — is therefore not recognised and can later be fatal to homologation, because art. 963, II requires that the defendant have been regularly cited.

Parallel proceedings are the second trap. Under art. 24 of the CPC, a case pending before a foreign court does not create lis pendens in Brazil and does not prevent a Brazilian court from hearing the same or a connected case, save where a treaty provides otherwise. The mirror image is generally true abroad. So a Brazilian spouse who prefers a Brazilian forum can file in Brazil after being sued abroad, and both cases will proceed.

What breaks the tie is finality and recognition. A Brazilian judgment that has become res judicata bars homologation of a conflicting foreign judgment (art. 963, IV — no offence to Brazilian res judicata). A merely pending Brazilian case, by contrast, does not by itself prevent homologation of a foreign judgment that has already become final (art. 24, sole paragraph). The result can be a race, and races are expensive. Where the spouses’ interests are not truly adverse, the better course is almost always to agree the forum — and, if the assets are split across countries, to agree which court decides what.

Legal basis: CPC/2015, art. 21, I (defendant domiciled in Brazil), art. 24 and its sole paragraph (no international lis pendens; pending Brazilian case does not bar homologation), art. 53, I (venue), art. 963, II and IV (regular citation; no offence to Brazilian res judicata).

Speak to counsel — parallel cases are strategy, not paperwork. Whether to file in Brazil defensively, to contest jurisdiction abroad, or to let the foreign case run and manage its recognition depends on the assets, the children’s residence, the pace of each court and the likely content of each judgment. This is the point at which Brazilian and foreign counsel should be talking to each other.

Can I file in Brazil without travelling there?

Yes, in almost every configuration, and this is the fact that most often changes people’s minds about the Brazilian route.

Judicial divorce. A Brazilian lawsuit is conducted by a lawyer under a power of attorney (CPC art. 105); the client does not need to be present to file, and hearings may be held by videoconference where the court permits, a practice consolidated after 2020. A power of attorney signed abroad is executed before a Brazilian consulate, or before a local notary and apostilled, and sworn-translated if not in Portuguese.

Extrajudicial (notarial) divorce. Where the divorce is consensual, there are no minor or incapable children (or the questions concerning them have already been resolved by a court, as Resolução CNJ nº 571/2024 now allows), and no pregnancy, the divorce can be done by public deed before a Brazilian notary with the participation of a lawyer (Lei nº 11.441/2007; CPC art. 733; Resolução CNJ nº 35/2007). Personal attendance is not required: art. 36 of Resolução 35, in the wording given by Resolução nº 571/2024, provides that the parties’ personal appearance is dispensable and that a spouse may be represented by an attorney-in-fact, “provided it is by public instrument with special powers, a description of the essential clauses and a validity period of thirty days”. On children, art. 34, §2 of the same Resolução, also as amended in 2024, permits the deed where the couple has common minor or incapable children, so long as the prior judicial resolution of custody, contact and support is duly evidenced and recorded in the body of the deed; in doubt, §3 sends the question to the judge who issued that decision. The deed is itself the title for registration at the civil and property registries — no court homologation.

Remote notarial acts. Electronic notarial acts are now governed by the Código Nacional de Normas do Foro Extrajudicial (Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023), arts. 284 and following, which absorbed the earlier Provimento CNJ nº 100/2020. The act is signed through the e-Notariado platform, with a notarial videoconference to capture consent and a certificado digital notarizado that the notary issues to the party free of charge. Brazilians abroad do use this route, and Brazilian consular posts publish guidance pointing to it; whether a particular notary will identify and certify a signatory located outside Brazil is a matter for that office, so confirm before planning around it.

Consular divorce. Brazilian consular posts draw up escrituras públicas de divórcio consensual under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ consular rules. The published conditions track the domestic ones: the divorce must be consensual, the couple must have no common minor or incapable children, and the parties must be assisted by a lawyer enrolled with the OAB or by a public defender. As with a domestic deed, it needs no judicial homologation and serves as title for the civil and property registries. What each post will and will not include — in particular whether the deed may also partition assets situated in Brazil — should be confirmed with that post before documents are prepared.

The cost of these routes is not travel; it is document lead time. Apostilles, sworn translations, consular appointments and the thirty-day validity of a notarial proxy have to be sequenced so that nothing expires while something else is in transit.

Legal basis: CPC/2015, art. 105 (powers of attorney to counsel) and art. 733 (consensual divorce by public deed; no judicial homologation; lawyer’s participation required); Lei nº 11.441/2007; Resolução CNJ nº 35/2007, arts. 34 and 36, as amended by Resolução CNJ nº 571/2024; Código Nacional de Normas do Foro Extrajudicial (Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023), arts. 284 ff. (electronic notarial acts and e-Notariado), which revoked Provimento CNJ nº 100/2020; Decreto nº 8.660/2016 (Hague Apostille Convention in Brazil).

What about children, support and my residence permit?

Choosing the divorce forum does not choose the forum for the children. Custody and visitation are anchored in the child’s habitual residence, and a decision from a court elsewhere is subject to homologation in Brazil and to the public-order screen of art. 963, VI. If a child is moved between countries without the other parent’s consent or a court order, the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (in force in Brazil under Decreto nº 3.413/2000) provides the return mechanism — a separate, urgent proceeding that no divorce decree pre-empts. Our guides to child custody in international marriages and the Hague Convention in Brazil cover these tracks.

Support follows the money and the creditor. Art. 22, I of the CPC gives Brazil jurisdiction over alimony whenever the creditor lives in Brazil or the debtor has assets or income there, which means a spouse or child in Brazil can seek support in Brazil against a debtor abroad, and a creditor abroad can pursue a debtor’s Brazilian income. Cross-border collection runs through the New York Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance (Decreto nº 56.826/1965) and, with many countries, the 2007 Hague Child Support Convention (Decreto nº 9.176/2017). See child support calculation and enforcement in Brazil.

Immigration is the chapter most often forgotten until it bites. A foreign spouse whose residence in Brazil rests on family reunion (Lei nº 13.445/2017; Decreto nº 9.199/2017) does not lose the authorisation the day the divorce is granted, but the relationship that justified it has ended, and renewal, conversion to another basis, or naturalisation on the reduced marriage track may be affected by timing. Read our guide to residency through marriage or união estável before fixing dates, not after.

Legal basis: Decreto nº 3.413/2000 (Hague 1980 Convention on child abduction); CPC/2015, art. 22, I (alimony jurisdiction) and art. 963, VI (public order); Decreto nº 56.826/1965 (New York Convention on maintenance); Decreto nº 9.176/2017 (2007 Hague Child Support Convention); Lei nº 13.445/2017 and Decreto nº 9.199/2017 (family-reunion residence).

How do the routes compare in practice?

There is no universally better forum; there is a forum that fits the decree you need. The comparison below assumes a couple living abroad with at least one Brazilian spouse.

Route	Typical fit	What it settles in Brazil	Watch-outs
Divorce abroad, consensual, bond only → direct registration in Brazil	No Brazilian assets; children’s issues resolved separately or not needed in Brazil	The bond, via the art. 464 annotation	Foreign marriage must first be transcribed in Brazil if not already; decree must be demonstrably consensual and silent on children/property
Divorce abroad with custody/support/property → STJ homologation	Assets and children abroad; Brazil only needs to recognise	Everything the STJ homologates; never Brazilian-situs property	Months, not days; Brazilian counsel; refusal on any art. 23 matter
Divorce in Brazil by notarial deed via proxies or e-Notariado	Consensual; no minor children (or their issues already decided); Brazilian assets to divide	Bond and Brazilian partition in one deed	Thirty-day proxy validity; sworn translations; may still need recognition abroad
Judicial divorce in Brazil via counsel	Contested; spouse in Brazil; Brazilian assets; support claims with Brazilian ties	Bond, partition of Brazilian assets, support, custody where the child is in Brazil	Service abroad; pace of the court; recognition of the Brazilian judgment abroad is the mirror problem
Hybrid: divorce abroad + partition in Brazil	Assets in both countries	Brazil handles only the Brazilian partition	Coordinate so each decree stays inside its jurisdiction

Speak to counsel — recognition runs both ways. A Brazilian divorce may itself need recognition where you live, under that country’s rules; a decree that is efficient in Brazil and unusable in Germany is the same mistake in reverse. Plan the pair of jurisdictions together.

Hypothetical illustration — not a real client.

Imagine a Canadian engineer married in Rio de Janeiro to a Brazilian designer. After eight years in Toronto the marriage ends by agreement. They have no children; they own a condominium in Toronto and, in the designer’s name, a small apartment in Niterói bought during the marriage. They consider a single Ontario divorce that divides everything. Counsel explains that the Ontario decree can dissolve the bond and deal with the Toronto condominium, but that the Niterói apartment is subject to exclusive Brazilian jurisdiction for partition under CPC art. 23, III — an Ontario order allocating it would be refused homologation on that point.

They choose a hybrid: a consensual Ontario divorce limited to the bond and the Canadian assets, annotated in Brazil through the civil registrar under art. 464 of the Código Nacional de Normas after apostille and sworn translation; and, separately, a Brazilian notarial deed of partition of the Niterói apartment, signed through attorneys-in-fact under public powers of attorney executed at the Brazilian consulate in Toronto and sequenced within their thirty-day validity. The deed is registered at the property registry, and the engineer’s share is later sold with the non-resident capital-gains rules in mind.

Every distinguishing detail here is invented. Real situations turn on their own facts and require individual analysis. Nothing in this example predicts any outcome.

What are the most common mistakes?

• Letting the foreign court divide Brazilian property. The clause is void of effect in Brazil and, worse, can taint homologation of the whole decree if it is not severable. Keep Brazilian-situs assets out of the foreign order or record only an agreement about them.
• Serving a spouse in Brazil informally. Email, courier or a relative’s hand-delivery is not citation under Brazilian law. A default judgment obtained that way will fail art. 963, II at homologation.
• Assuming Brazilian nationality equals Brazilian jurisdiction. It does not. Jurisdiction rests on domicile, place of performance, place of the fact, assets, income or submission — not on the passport.
• Forgetting to transcribe the foreign marriage first. A Brazilian who married abroad must have the marriage registered in Brazil before any divorce can be annotated on it. Many discover this at the registrar’s counter.
• Obtaining a “qualified” foreign decree when a simple one would do. If custody, support or property are being settled by separate agreement or elsewhere, a bond-only decree can be registered directly; one that recites those terms goes to the STJ.
• Letting the notarial proxy expire. The public power of attorney for a Brazilian notarial divorce has a short validity; apostille and translation times must be planned around it.
• Ignoring the immigration calendar. The date a divorce becomes final can matter for renewals and naturalisation timelines; sequence them consciously.
• Treating the two countries as independent. Each decree may need recognition in the other. Plan the pair.

Divorcing a Brazilian spouse from abroad at a glance

Question	Short answer	Where to look
Can Brazil hear my divorce?	Yes if the defendant is domiciled there, the obligation or fact connects to Brazil, or both parties submit	CPC arts. 21–22
Must Brazil hear part of it?	Yes for the partition of assets situated in Brazil	CPC art. 23, III; art. 964
Does a foreign case block a Brazilian one?	No; and a pending Brazilian case does not block homologation	CPC art. 24
Is a foreign consensual divorce valid in Brazil?	Yes, without STJ homologation; simple ones are registered directly	CPC art. 961, §5; CNN (Prov. CNJ 149/2023), art. 464
And a contested or “qualified” one?	After STJ homologation	CPC arts. 960–965; RISTJ 216-A ff.
Which Brazilian court?	Child’s guardian’s domicile; last marital domicile; defendant’s domicile; victim’s domicile	CPC art. 53, I
Can I do it without travelling?	Yes — counsel, public POA, e-Notariado, consular deed	CPC arts. 105, 733; Res. CNJ 35/2007
Which law governs the property regime?	Law of the spouses’ domicile at marriage, or first conjugal domicile	LINDB art. 7, §4

Key terms

• Competência concorrente / exclusiva — concurrent jurisdiction (Brazil may hear the case) versus exclusive jurisdiction (only Brazil may).
• Homologação de sentença estrangeira — the STJ proceeding that gives a foreign judgment effect in Brazil.
• Averbação — the annotation of a divorce on the Brazilian marriage record at the Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais.
• Divórcio consensual simples / qualificado — a foreign consensual divorce that only dissolves the bond, versus one that also settles custody, support or property.
• Escritura pública de divórcio — the notarial deed that effects a consensual divorce without a court.
• Procuração pública com poderes especiais — the public power of attorney that lets an attorney-in-fact sign a notarial divorce for an absent spouse.
• Partilha — the division of the couple’s assets; for assets in Brazil, always a Brazilian act.
• Litispendência internacional — international lis pendens; Brazil does not recognise it as a bar (CPC art. 24).

Key takeaways

• Where to file is decided by what the decree must do — dissolve the bond, settle children and support, divide assets — and where each of those must take effect.
• Brazil has concurrent jurisdiction whenever the defendant is domiciled there, the obligation or fact connects to Brazil, an alimony creditor lives there or the debtor has assets or income there, or the parties submit; nationality alone is not a ground.
• Brazil has exclusive jurisdiction over the partition of assets situated in Brazil (CPC art. 23, III). A foreign order dividing a Brazilian property will not be homologated.
• A foreign consensual divorce is effective in Brazil without STJ homologation; if it is silent on children, support and property it can be annotated directly at the civil registry under art. 464 of the CNJ Código Nacional de Normas. Anything else goes to the STJ.
• Parallel cases in two countries are allowed; finality and recognition, not filing order, decide the outcome. Coordinate counsel early.
• Brazil can be reached without travelling: judicial divorce through counsel, notarial divorce through public proxies or e-Notariado, and consular deeds in defined cases.
• Custody, support and immigration status follow their own connecting factors and treaties; plan them alongside the divorce, not after it.
• Recognition runs both ways — a Brazilian decree may need to be recognised where you live.

Related guides on this site

• Getting a US/UK/EU divorce recognised in Brazil: STJ homologation vs direct registration
• Dividing a Brazilian property in a foreign divorce
• International divorce in Brazil: jurisdiction and assets
• International divorce in Brazil: legal and immigration aspects
• Divorce in Brazil: complete guide
• Child custody in international marriages
• Apostille and document validation for Brazil
• Residency through marriage or união estável in Brazil

How ZS Advogados can help

A cross-border divorce is a jurisdiction problem before it is a family problem: the decree has to be designed to work in two legal systems, the Brazilian chapter has to be opened where Brazilian law insists on it, and the documents — powers of attorney, apostilles, sworn translations, consular deeds — have to be sequenced across time zones so that nothing expires in transit. The choices made in the first month tend to fix the cost and duration of everything that follows.

Our team advises spouses living abroad on forum selection and on the Brazilian chapter itself: judicial and notarial divorces conducted remotely under power of attorney, the partition of assets situated in Brazil, coordination with foreign counsel so that each decree stays inside its jurisdiction, and the subsequent recognition, registration and immigration steps. We work in English and Portuguese, and every matter is built on the couple’s actual documents, assets and residence history. See our cross-border family law page for how an engagement is structured.

• Family law — divorce, dissolution of stable union, custody and support
• International law — jurisdiction, homologation, foreign documents and remote representation
• Real estate — partition and registration of property situated in Brazil

Book a consultation to have your forum options and the Brazilian chapter of your divorce mapped before either case is filed.

Technical review by the ZS Advogados Associados team, including co-founding partner Karina Peres Silvério (OAB/SP 331.050) and founding partner Zachariah Zagol (OAB/SP 351.356). Contact: zac@zsassociados.com — +55 (18) 3908-1653 — Presidente Prudente, SP.

Sources and legal basis

• Lei nº 13.105/2015 — Código de Processo Civil (arts. 21–25, 53, 105, 731, 733, 960–965) (Planalto)
• Decreto-Lei nº 4.657/1942 — Lei de Introdução às Normas do Direito Brasileiro (arts. 7, 15, 17) (Planalto)
• Lei nº 10.406/2002 — Código Civil (arts. 1.571–1.582, 1.639–1.688) (Planalto)
• Emenda Constitucional nº 66/2010 — divórcio sem separação prévia (Planalto)
• Lei nº 11.441/2007 — inventário, partilha, separação e divórcio consensuais por via administrativa (Planalto)
• Resolução CNJ nº 35/2007 — atos notariais da Lei 11.441/2007 (CNJ)
• Resolução CNJ nº 571/2024 — alterações à Resolução 35/2007 (CNJ)
• Código Nacional de Normas do Foro Extrajudicial — Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023 (arts. 284 ss., e-Notariado; arts. 463–467, averbação de divórcio estrangeiro) (CNJ)
• Provimento CNJ nº 53/2016 — revogado pelo Provimento CNJ nº 149/2023 (CNJ)
• Resolução CNJ nº 571/2024 — altera a Resolução CNJ nº 35/2007 (divórcio extrajudicial) (CNJ)
• Decreto nº 9.734/2019 — Convenção da Haia de 1965 sobre citação; reservas aos Artigos 8º e 10 (Planalto)
• Regimento Interno do STJ — arts. 216-A a 216-N, homologação de decisão estrangeira (STJ)
• Decreto nº 8.660/2016 — Convenção da Apostila da Haia (Planalto)
• Decreto nº 3.413/2000 — Convenção da Haia sobre os Aspectos Civis do Sequestro Internacional de Crianças (Planalto)
• Decreto nº 9.176/2017 — Convenção da Haia de 2007 sobre cobrança internacional de alimentos (Planalto)
• Lei nº 13.445/2017 — Lei de Migração (Planalto)

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This guide is for informational and educational purposes only, in line with Provimento No. 205/2021 of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). It is not legal advice, an opinion, or an offer of services, does not refer to any specific case, and does not guarantee any result. It describes Brazilian law and practice; references to foreign courts, decrees and procedures are factual context only and are not advice on the law of any other country. Jurisdictional outcomes, recognition and registry practice vary with the facts, the state and the specific court or notary. Rules and provisions are cited as of August 2026; changes after that date are not reflected. Each situation requires individual analysis by a licensed attorney. Last updated August 2026.