Lawyers specializing in Family Law have learned, over the past few decades, to live with a constant disconnect between the law and reality. 

While family configurations multiplied, affective bonds gained jurisprudential recognition, and biotechnology revolutionized the very notion of filiation, the 2002 Civil Code remained anchored in premises from the last century.

This imbalance is about to be corrected. Bill 4/2025, which proposes the revision and updating of the Civil Code, brings to Family Law a set of changes that not only consolidate the jurisprudential evolution of recent decades, but also project the legal system towards the challenges of the present and the future.

For family law attorneys, the reform is not just a legislative change, but a complete reconfiguration of the professional field. Those who do not prepare will certainly be left behind.

1. The dejudicialization of paternity and the new role of the extrajudicial lawyer

The number of children registered without the father's name is scandalous. According to data from ARPEN, in 2023 alone, more than 172 children were registered only with the mother's name. Behind this statistic lies a normative system that, in the words of Maria Berenice Dias, endorses absolute disrespect for the fundamental right to identity.

The current procedure, governed by a 1992 law, is a prime example of bureaucracy that perpetuates injustices. When the mother indicates the alleged father at the time of registration, her word has no legal significance. The alleged father is summoned by the court and has thirty days to appear. His silence or refusal produces no consequence whatsoever. In the face of inaction, the case goes to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which will need to locate the mother again, summon the defendant again, and await the outcome of an investigative action that can take years.

Meanwhile, the child remains without the right to the paternal name, without access to the father's health insurance plan, and without any of the rights that come from parentage.

Bill 4/2025 proposes a radical reversal of this logic. 

Article 1.609-A establishes that, once the alleged father has been indicated by the mother, it is the responsibility of the civil registry officer to personally summon him to appear at the registry office and proceed with the registration or submit to a DNA test. 

If the person fails to appear within the established timeframe, or refuses both registration and examination, the official will enter the father's name on the birth certificate.

The presumption now favors the child and their mother, not the alleged father. The reversal of the burden of proof, already accepted by the jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), gains legislative confirmation. 

A father who disagrees may, at any time, file a lawsuit to exclude paternity by proving the absence of a genetic or socio-affective bond. But the child will no longer have to wait years to have their fundamental right to identity recognized.

According to the lawyer, this change represents a significant expansion of the field of extrajudicial practice. Preventive advice to mothers, guidance to alleged fathers, monitoring of notary procedures, and potential defense in annulment actions comprise a new repertoire of services that will require technical expertise and sensitivity to issues that transcend the merely patrimonial.

2. Assisted human reproduction is finally included in the Civil Code.

Since 1984, fertilization techniques have been used in Brazil. Forty years later, the matter remains regulated only by a resolution of the Federal Council of Medicine, without the force of law. 

The only article in the Civil Code that addresses the issue, article 1.597, is full of inconsistencies that violate the constitutional principle of equality between children.

Bill 4/2025 inserts an entire chapter into the Family Law dedicated to parentage resulting from assisted reproduction, with twenty-two articles addressing issues previously relegated to normative limbo.

Temporary uterine donation is now explicitly regulated, with prohibitions against profit-making purposes and a requirement for formalization in a written document before the start of medical procedures. 

The confidentiality of the gamete donor is guaranteed, but the right of the newborn to know their biological origin is reserved through judicial authorization, equating it to an adopted child. 

Informed consent becomes an indispensable formal requirement, detailing the information that must be provided to everyone involved in the parenting project.

Post-mortem assisted reproduction receives specific treatment. Article 1.629-Q allows the use of genetic material after the death of the owner, provided there is an express written authorization for its use and indication of the recipient. The link between the conceived child and the deceased parent is established for all legal purposes, including inheritance.

The matter spills over into the Book of Successions. Article 1.798 of the proposed reform legitimizes inheritance not only for persons born or conceived at the time of the opening of the succession, but also for the children of the deceased conceived through post-mortem assisted reproduction techniques, provided they were born within a period of up to five years.

The numbers justify the urgency of regulation. In 2023 alone, more than 56 in vitro fertilization cycles were performed in Brazil, leaving 115 frozen embryos.

Each of these procedures involves complex legal issues that the family lawyer will need to master, such as the validity of consent, the limits of reproductive autonomy, the rights of the unborn child, multi-parental filiation, and the fate of surplus embryos in case of divorce or death.

3. The clause sunset and private autonomy in the property regime

One of the most evident vectors of the reform is the expansion of the space for private autonomy in family relationships. 

The proposed article 1.639 explicitly states that spouses or partners are entitled, before or after the celebration of marriage or the establishment of a stable union, to freely stipulate their assets and patrimonial interests.

In this context, the recognition of the sunset clause in Brazilian law deserves highlighting . Article 1.653-B allows for the automatic alteration of the marital property regime in a prenuptial or cohabitation agreement after a predetermined period of time, without retroactive effects, except for the rights of third parties.

The origin of the institution lies in the Anglo-Saxon experience, where couples often establish an initial trial period in marriage, with more restrictive property rules that automatically convert to a more communal regime after a certain period. 

As noted by Pablo Stolze Gagliano, a member of the Commission of Jurists responsible for the preliminary draft, this is a useful institution that meets the desires of numerous Brazilian couples.

In practice, the couple may stipulate that for the first five years the regime of total separation of assets will be in effect, automatically converting to partial community property after that period. The change does not have retroactive effect, so the assets acquired during the separation period remain the exclusive property of each spouse.

The possibility of post-nuptial agreements is also gaining normative clarity. Couples who, after marriage, decide that establishing a sunset clause is more appropriate may do so through a public deed, without the need for judicial approval.

For lawyers specializing in family estate planning, these changes represent an exponential expansion of structuring possibilities. 

Legal advice on drafting prenuptial and cohabitation agreements is no longer a mere formality, but has become a sophisticated exercise in legal engineering, requiring in-depth knowledge not only of family law, but also of the tax and inheritance implications of each choice.

4. Succession planning and new family configurations

The reform introduces a significant change to the rule prohibiting agreements regarding the inheritance of a living person. The proposed article 426 maintains the general prohibition, but opens relevant exceptions for family planning.

Agreements entered into jointly by necessary descendant heirs that include directives regarding the collation of assets, excessive inheritance, and the division of corporate shares are now admissible, even if the common ancestor is still alive. It is also permitted for spouses or cohabitants, through a prenuptial or cohabitation agreement, to renounce their status as heirs of the other spouse or partner.

The renunciation can be conditional upon the survival of eligible relatives of any class, offering flexibility for complex family arrangements. And, importantly, the renunciation does not imply the loss of the real right of habitation, unless expressly agreed upon by the parties.

These possibilities gain particular relevance in light of new family configurations. Socio-affective filiation, consolidated in case law and now enshrined in the bill, allows for the recognition of multiple parental ties. 

Multiple parentage, recognized by the Brazilian Supreme Court in General Repercussion Case 622, multiplies the lines of succession and requires careful planning to avoid future litigation.

A lawyer who simultaneously masters family law and inheritance law, understanding the intersections between estate planning, marital property regimes, parentage, and inheritance, will be able to offer clients integrated solutions that few professionals can deliver.

5. Specialized training is the competitive advantage.

The ongoing transformations in Family Law are not incremental, but structural. These include the dejudicialization of procedures previously exclusively handled by the courts, the regulation of matters previously relegated to jurisprudence or sub-legal norms, the expansion of private autonomy in patrimonial and existential matters, and the need to integrate family and inheritance law in increasingly complex planning processes.

All of this demands skills from the family lawyer that traditional training does not provide.

A lawyer who aims to excel in Family Law needs to master both contentious practical cases (contested divorces, custody disputes, paternity investigations) and preventive procedures that can avoid future litigation.

The Postgraduate Program in Private and Business Law at IDP offers this integrated training. The Practical Cases in Family Law course addresses contentious divorce and dissolution of common-law marriage proceedings, as well as preventive procedures that the reform of the Civil Code will make increasingly relevant. 

The discipline of Estate Planning explores the concept in its multiple dimensions (tax implications, interface with family and inheritance law, application to practical cases), preparing professionals to advise clients on structures that require a systemic view.

The faculty brings together academics and professionals who are at the heart of these transformations. Nelson Rosenvald, whose work traverses the fundamental debates of contemporary civil law. Regina Beatriz Tavares da Silva, president of ADFAS and a leading figure in family law. Felipe Braga Netto, whose work on civil liability and obligations is essential reading. The methodology, based on problem-solving and case studies, allows theoretical knowledge to be immediately tested against the complexity of real-world situations.

Lawyers who invest in structured training now will be prepared to lead when the changes take hold. What's at stake is not just updating their resume, but strategic positioning in a field that rewards those who anticipate transformations.