Processes of acknowledging foreign sentences in all European and American countries are efficiently conducted by our firm, which is based in Europe (Germany) and Brazil.

The Mestieri-Seidl Law Firm is in charge of the entire bureaucracy involved in the foreign sentence homologation process using the expertise it has in such process, so that the procedure is completed as soon as possible.

Legalization, referral for sworn translations, complete process at the Supreme Court of Justice, registering of marriage certificate and divorce in Brazil until total delivery of documents to the client. Since it is a process with many important details to be verified, our expertise prevents unnecessary costs and waste of time.

The foreign sentence homologation process is justified by the principle of national sovereignty, which determines that foreign sentences, in order to acquire force and validity in the Brazilian territory, shall be submitted to a foreign sentence homologation process at the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice. Such process will verify whether the foreign sentence is compatible with the Brazilian law and whether there is any violation to local laws. Thus, facts that are legal in many countries are considered illegal according to Brazilian laws, such as gambling debts. In this case, because gambling is illegal in Brazil, a foreign sentence convicting someone to make a payment due to gambling debts might not be accepted in Brazil.

On the other hand, if the fact is legal according to Brazilian laws, the sentence will be homologated by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice and shall be also valid in Brazil, and may be executed and have all effects in Brazil.

The documents required for foreign sentence homologation (in the case of divorce, for example) are:

1. Power of attorney to nominate an attorney;

2. Original foreign sentence signed by a competent judge and legalized according to the Hague Convention;

3. Birth certificate registered at the Consular Sector or foreign marriage certificate, legalized by the Consular Sector and translated by a sworn translator in Brazil;

4. Declaration of former spouse, preferentially in Portuguese, in agreement with divorce homologation. Such declaration avoids citing the former spouse, which takes a long time if performed by rogatory letter. After notarization of the declarant by Notary Public, the declaration must be legalized at the Consular Sector.

Foreign documents should be authenticated by the Consulate of the jurisdiction where acts were originated and, if not in Portuguese, properly translated in Brazil by a sworn translator.

Cases in which there is no declaration of agreement by the former spouse: It is perfectly possible to conduct the process without declaration of agreement by the former spouse, but in this case there will be an increase in costs and a higher demand in the process. If there is no declaration of agreement by the former spouse, there are 3 hypotheses:

1. Citation of the spouse abroad by Rogatory Letter: It is a very complex and time-consuming procedure.

2. Citation of the spouse abroad by Publication of Summons: It is a relatively simple procedure that consists of the publication of an article to summon the former spouse at a local newspaper, as well as at an official newspaper. It takes about 3 months. One disadvantage is that there are incident extra costs.

After service of process of the former spouse, he/she can:

a. not manifest (more frequent case);
b. agree with the claim;
c. discordar da ação.

In hypotheses a and b, the judge will render judgment next, after hearing the Public Ministry, and then the process will be terminated.

In hypothesis c, the process will continue by appraisal of the reasons claimed by the parties and it will only be judged after several steps. Considering the lack of interest by the other party in contesting a claim that has already been judged abroad, and even if the legal reasons enabling such contest are limited it is rare for the other party to contest the claim. Anyhow, all possible hypotheses are explained above.

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