The Bill That Aims to Turn Emotional Neglect Into An Official Reason to Lose Inheritance Gains Traction in Congress and Finds Support in Rulings That Excluded Absent Parents From Succession

Written by Valdemar Medeiros

Published on 27/11/2025 at 07:32

O projeto que quer transformar abandono afetivo em motivo oficial para perder herança ganha força no Congresso e encontra respaldo em decisões que excluíram pais ausentes da sucessão

38 people reacted to this.

The Proposal That Includes Affective Abandonment as a Cause of Exclusion from Inheritance Gains Strength in Congress and Resonates in Judicial Decisions, Reigniting the Debate on Dignity, Duty of Care, and the Future of Inheritance Law in Brazil.

Since 2015, a project has been circulating in the National Congress that reignites one of the most sensitive debates in Family Law: transforming affective abandonment, especially against the elderly — into an official cause for exclusion from inheritance. This is PL 3.145/2015, which aims to amend the Civil Code to allow the disinheritance of children and grandchildren who abandon their parents or grandparents, leaving them in situations of emotional, material, or health vulnerability.

Currently, the Civil Code only allows excluding heirs in specific cases: attempted homicide, serious offense, crimes against honor, violence, or fraud involving wills. It makes no mention of affective abandonment, even though it is one of the biggest complaints among the elderly in Brazil. The project has already received favorable opinions in committees, especially in the area of elderly protection, which demonstrates growing concern amid the accelerated aging of the population.

How Affective Abandonment Entered the Judiciary’s Radar

Even without a specific law, the topic is already being discussed in doctrine and is beginning to appear in important judicial decisions. The central thesis is that the constitutional principle of dignity of the human person — combined with the duty of family solidarity — provides grounds to recognize abandonment as sufficiently serious conduct to justify exclusion from succession.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Real Cases That Drive the Debate

In recent years, isolated decisions have expanded the discussion. Some of them recognized that children who abandon sick or dependent parents commit an act of moral violation sufficient to warrant reparation. Although such decisions do not directly address inheritance, they reveal a change in mindset within the Judiciary.

There are also studies arguing that “affectivity,” a term used by part of the doctrine, should be recognized as a legal value. The argument is simple: if the duty of care is constitutional, abandonment can be interpreted as a serious breach of that duty, justifying harsher property measures.

The Practical Impact of Such a Change

If Congress approves the PL or if the courts consolidate the interpretation that acknowledges affective abandonment as a hypothesis of indignity, we will see a profound change in Brazilian Inheritance Law:

• negligent heirs could be completely excluded from succession
• families will have to prove cohabitation and care, not just biological ties
• the elderly will have stronger legal protection against the omission of their children
• lawyers will have more tools to pursue disinheritance
• wills could include explicit clauses for exclusion due to abandonment

The change could also reduce situations where children reappear only after the death of their parents to claim assets, even after years without contact or providing assistance.

Criticism, Risks, and Legal Resistance

Despite the advancement of the debate, there are strong criticisms:

• many jurists argue that the causes of indignity should remain taxative, without expansions
• including affective abandonment would open the door for emotional disputes to be brought into inheritance cases
• the subjectivity of affection would make it difficult to establish clear legal criteria
• the rise in family judicialization could lead to even more conflicts

On the other hand, proponents of the project claim that real life demands an update of the law: people live longer, families are smaller, and affective abandonment of the elderly is a growing social problem.

This Is Not Fiction, It Is a Real, Urgent Debate That Can Change the Law for Brazilian Families

Affective abandonment as a cause for exclusion from inheritance has already moved beyond academic circles. It is in Congress, in judicial decisions, in public debates, and it gains strength year after year.

There is still no approved law. But there is a real project, a consolidated legal movement, decisions pointing in this direction, and a country aging without the legal framework keeping pace with the speed of social changes.

If the PL progresses or if the courts adopt a broader interpretation, Brazil will witness one of the most significant transformations in Inheritance Law of the century.

And that means, in practice, that affective abandonment may cease to be merely a moral and emotional issue and start to have a direct impact on family inheritance.

8 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

Nadja Barreto

#200680

29/11/2025 19:41

E para os tios e tias sem filhos, como îficaria, já que os sobrinhos e sobrinhas serão os herdeiros ?

Respond

Nadja Barreto

#200677

29/11/2025 19:37

O abandono seria só para pais e avós ? E tios (as) solteiros (as) sem filhos como ficaria, já que os sobrinhos (as) serão os herdeiros ?

Respond

Pereira

#200230

28/11/2025 23:05

Tem a outra face da história também, pais que não criam seus filhos , desaparecem e desejam ser cuidados na velhice.

Respond

The Bill That Aims to Turn Emotional Neglect Into An Official Reason to Lose Inheritance Gains Traction in Congress and Finds Support in Rulings That Excluded Absent Parents From Succession

The Proposal That Includes Affective Abandonment as a Cause of Exclusion from Inheritance Gains Strength in Congress and Resonates in Judicial Decisions, Reigniting the Debate on Dignity, Duty of Care, and the Future of Inheritance Law in Brazil.

How Affective Abandonment Entered the Judiciary’s Radar

Real Cases That Drive the Debate

The Practical Impact of Such a Change

Criticism, Risks, and Legal Resistance

This Is Not Fiction, It Is a Real, Urgent Debate That Can Change the Law for Brazilian Families

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

Bricklayers off the scaffolding? New system uses autonomous drones to position bricks and apply adhesive in the air, creating walls with two flying robots working as a team.

For the economist José Kobori, the USA gained a trump card to “blackmail” Brazil and undermine China’s influence by classifying the PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorists, increasing the power to pressure companies, banks, and even Pix.

BYD Atto 2 DM-i flex prepares to debut in Brazil with a plug-in hybrid engine, national assembly in Camaçari, competitive pricing, and targets Creta and T-Cross in a battle that promises to heat up the compact SUV market.

Processors can become 1,000 times faster with a new device that uses light pulses, operates in 40 picoseconds, and reduces the heat that stalls data centers.

Noise in the sky frightened residents: NASA confirms that a meteor exploded over New England with a force equivalent to 230 tons of TNT

The paycheck that seemed impossible: São José employee receives R$ 7.94 after legal strike, while deductions by the City Hall affect over a thousand employees and become a target of inquiry in the City Council.

The Bill That Aims to Turn Emotional Neglect Into An Official Reason to Lose Inheritance Gains Traction in Congress and Finds Support in Rulings That Excluded Absent Parents From Succession

The Proposal That Includes Affective Abandonment as a Cause of Exclusion from Inheritance Gains Strength in Congress and Resonates in Judicial Decisions, Reigniting the Debate on Dignity, Duty of Care, and the Future of Inheritance Law in Brazil.

How Affective Abandonment Entered the Judiciary’s Radar

Real Cases That Drive the Debate

The Practical Impact of Such a Change

Criticism, Risks, and Legal Resistance

This Is Not Fiction, It Is a Real, Urgent Debate That Can Change the Law for Brazilian Families

A giant printer called the “Ferrari” of concrete has landed in Latin America and can already build a 120-square-meter house in just 48 hours, making the traditional construction site look like something from the last century.

Brazil will harvest a record crop of up to 357 million tons of grains, but it does not have the capacity to store a large part of it. The storage deficit has reached the highest level in history and is equivalent to almost the entire production of Argentina.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

Under nearly 2 kilometers of ice in Antarctica, scientists have discovered an ancient landscape sculpted by rivers up to 60 million years ago, the size of Wales, preserved as a time capsule that could help predict the advance of ice towards the ocean.

She started by collecting oyster shells from restaurants and today she has already accumulated more than 10 tons to restore reefs, recover coastal habitats, and demonstrate how a common waste can become a tool for ocean conservation.

Bricklayers off the scaffolding? New system uses autonomous drones to position bricks and apply adhesive in the air, creating walls with two flying robots working as a team.

Structural and finishing warranties: understand the rights that can prevent losses for the buyer of a new property

Brazilian justice orders the Union, Iphan, Pará, and the City Hall to “save” the ghost town of Fordlândia from ruins, with a diagnosis in 90 days, land regularization, and fines for the abandonment of historical heritage.

Braking only in front of the radar and accelerating right after may no longer be an option for drivers, because BR-101 in Espírito Santo tested a system that measures the average speed over an entire stretch and caught a car at 124 km/h on a 60 km/h road.

The STJ decides that a woman who left her career for more than 30 years to take care of the house, children, and family is entitled to lifetime alimony after divorce; the decision by the 3rd Panel recognizes extreme financial vulnerability and values invisible work in marriage.

For the economist José Kobori, the USA gained a trump card to “blackmail” Brazil and undermine China’s influence by classifying the PCC and Comando Vermelho as terrorists, increasing the power to pressure companies, banks, and even Pix.

BYD Atto 2 DM-i flex prepares to debut in Brazil with a plug-in hybrid engine, national assembly in Camaçari, competitive pricing, and targets Creta and T-Cross in a battle that promises to heat up the compact SUV market.

Processors can become 1,000 times faster with a new device that uses light pulses, operates in 40 picoseconds, and reduces the heat that stalls data centers.

Noise in the sky frightened residents: NASA confirms that a meteor exploded over New England with a force equivalent to 230 tons of TNT

The paycheck that seemed impossible: São José employee receives R$ 7.94 after legal strike, while deductions by the City Hall affect over a thousand employees and become a target of inquiry in the City Council.