On November 8, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) unanimously ruled that legal separation is no longer a prerequisite for divorce. This decision aligns with the changes introduced by Constitutional Amendment (EC) 66/2010, which removed the requirement for prior separation periods before a divorce could be granted. Previously, the Constitution mandated either a one-year legal separation or a two-year de facto separation before a divorce was possible.

With EC 66/2010, the temporal conditions for dissolving a marriage were eliminated, allowing couples to divorce at any time, even shortly after marriage. This reflects the STF’s view that both marriage and divorce are acts of personal freedom.

At Böing Vieites Gleich Mizrahi Rei Advogados, we affirm that the right to divorce is potestative, meaning it is solely at the discretion of the individuals involved, without the need for fault or justification, in line with the legal advancements brought by the constitutional change.