BRAZIL Law and Practice Contributed by: Daniel Zugman and Frederico Bastos, BVZ Advogados | Bastos, Bari, Vilela e Zugman
The public social security system provides retirement benefits to individuals who satisfy the applicable con - tribution requirements. In parallel, the government encourages long-term retirement savings through the open supplementary pension system, principally the PGBL and the VGBL. Broadly speaking, PGBL contri - butions may qualify for income tax deductions within the statutory limits, whereas VGBL plans generally tax only the investment gains upon redemption or pay - ment of benefits. The government also promotes financial and pension education initiatives encouraging long-term savings, diversification of retirement income and financial plan - ning. In practice, particularly for high-net-worth families, these public measures are complemented by private wealth-planning strategies, including private pension plans, long-term investment portfolios, family hold - ing companies, lifetime gifts with reserved usufruct, wills, shareholders’ agreements and other governance arrangements designed to preserve wealth, facilitate succession, ensure continuity in the management of family assets and provide financial support for older generations. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children The Brazilian Constitution guarantees equality among biological, adopted and out-of-wedlock children, expressly prohibiting discriminatory treatment. A child’s right to inherit or to be included in a class of beneficiaries is therefore protected regardless of how the child was conceived or brought into the family. Under Brazilian law, children are treated as descend - ants of their legally established parents. Once a par - ent-child relationship is registered or judicially recog - nised, it produces full succession effects. Brazilian law also recognises socio-affective parenthood, based on emotional and social bonds developed through daily care. In adoption, the parental authority of the biologi - cal parents is generally extinguished and replaced by the adoptive family relationship.
Surrogacy arrangements are permitted only on an altruistic basis, as commercial surrogacy is prohib - ited in Brazil. The practice is governed mainly by ethi - cal rules issued by the Federal Council of Medicine, which generally require the surrogate to be a relative of the intended parents up to the fourth degree, unless exceptional authorisation is granted. Upon birth, the child is registered under the intended parents’ names and acquires full inheritance rights in that family unit. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage In Brazil, civil marriage and stable unions between same-sex couples are fully recognised and produce the same legal effects as those applicable to oppo - site-sex couples. This position was established by the Brazilian Supreme Court based on the constitutional principles of equality, human dignity, freedom and the prohibition of discrimination. As a result, same-sex couples may choose any of the matrimonial property regimes available under Brazilian law and enjoy the same family, property and inher - itance rights as opposite-sex couples. There are no tax or succession rules that apply differently solely because a couple is of the same sex. In practice, same-sex couples have access to the same private wealth planning tools as any other cou - ple, including prenuptial agreements or cohabitation agreements, wills, family holding companies, lifetime gifts and shareholders’ agreements. These structures are commonly used to organise succession, preserve family wealth and establish governance arrangements in the same manner as for opposite-sex couples. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples In Brazil, unmarried couples may be recognised as being in a stable union ( união estável ). Unlike mar - riage, a stable union arises from a public, continuous and lasting relationship with the intention of forming a family. Once recognised, however, it generally pro - duces the same legal effects as marriage, including property and succession rights. Unless the partners agree otherwise through a cohabi - tation agreement, the statutory property regime is generally the partial community of property. Stable
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