Find a debt-help route outside the United States

SettleADebt C_BR PASS-16 — Brazil

Ordinary civil surety (fiança) and solidary/joint-obligation gateway

Distinct reviewed component: P01 D13 only—ordinary Civil Code plurality of debtors and creditors, solidarity, personal surety, co-sureties, marital consent, duration, defenses and discharge.

Research baseline: October 22, 2026, America/Los_Angeles. Fresh source-access dates: October 26, 2026 PDT / October 27, 2026 UTC. Exact source-opening clocks: Not logged and unknown. Publication dates and review-completion timestamps are not source-opening timestamps. Status: Narrow federal gateway research with all actual-contract, provider, consumer, professional, security, procedural, territorial, foreign and country-level holds preserved.

PASS-15 is complete and saved but awaits review; none of its assignment/payment findings is adopted here. PASS-04, PASS-05, PASS-08, PASS-09, PASS-10 and PASS-14 remain unreviewed and are not premises. Prior reviewed work retains only its stated scope and holds.

No actual person, spouse, guarantor, debtor, creditor, provider, company, contract, account, property, licence, case, docket or private record was searched or classified.

Executive determination

1. Two people signing the same debt does not automatically create solidarity. For a divisible obligation with multiple debtors or creditors, Civil Code art. 257 presumptively divides the obligation into equal, distinct shares. Solidarity exists only when imposed by law or expressly resulting from the parties’ will; it is not presumed. C_BR-P16-C005–C009. Primary source: Civil Code arts. 257 and 264–266, https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/2002/l10406compilada.htm. Planalto+1
2. An indivisible obligation is not necessarily a solidary obligation. Each debtor can owe the whole performance because the object cannot be divided, while the internal and external consequences still follow the indivisibility rules rather than every solidarity rule. C006–C007. Planalto
3. Passive solidarity gives the creditor a full external claim, but it preserves internal contribution rights. The creditor may demand all or part from one or several solidary debtors. Partial payment does not release the others from the unpaid balance. A debtor who pays the whole ordinarily recovers each co-debtor’s share, with the insolvent co-debtor’s share distributed among the others. C013–C024. Planalto+1
4. A fiança is a personal, accessory guarantee—not ownership of collateral, an assignment of the debt, or settlement authority. Under art. 818, the surety undertakes to satisfy the creditor if the principal debtor does not perform. The surety instrument does not itself make the surety the creditor, owner of collateral, collector, lawyer, payment institution or licensed debt negotiator. C026, C056–C058, C076. Planalto+1
5. A fiança must be written and is strictly interpreted. It may be given without the debtor’s consent and may cover future obligations, but the surety cannot be sued on a future obligation until the principal obligation becomes certain and liquid. A broad label such as “all obligations” does not eliminate strict interpretation or other statutory limits. C027–C030. Planalto+1
6. An unlimited surety can include accessories and judicial expenses, but only within the statutory and contractual perimeter. Art. 822 includes accessories and judicial expenses from citation of the surety. A surety may be for less than the principal debt or under less onerous conditions; an excess or more onerous guarantee is effective only up to the principal obligation’s limit. C030–C032. Planalto+1
7. The benefit of excussion is conditional and can be lost. A sued surety may require the creditor first to pursue the principal debtor’s assets only if the surety invokes the benefit by the procedural deadline and identifies sufficient, unencumbered debtor assets in the same municipality. The benefit is unavailable after an express waiver, where the surety undertook as principal payer or solidary debtor, or where the principal debtor is insolvent or bankrupt. C035–C036. Planalto+1
8. Co-sureties are a statutory exception to the “solidarity is not presumed” rule. When several sureties guarantee the same debt, art. 829 makes them solidary among themselves unless they expressly reserve division. With a valid division reservation, each answers only for the designated share. C037–C040. Planalto+1
9. An indefinite surety can ordinarily be terminated prospectively, but not immediately. Under Civil Code art. 835, a surety without a contractual duration may notify the creditor of exoneration at any time and remains liable for the guarantee’s effects for 60 days after notice. The exact receipt date, valid notice, scope and later obligations remain factual. C044, C077. Planalto+1
10. Residential leases have a distinct 120-day branch. Current Lei 8.245/1991 art. 40(X) keeps a lease surety liable for 120 days after notice in the relevant indefinite-extension setting. If notice is given while the fixed term is still running, the STJ has held that the 120-day period begins when the lease becomes indefinite—not automatically when the notice was sent. Older leases can present a transitional 60-day Civil Code branch. C068–C073. Planalto+2
11. A surety can be released by specified creditor conduct even if the surety waived excussion or undertook solidarily. Civil Code art. 838 discharges the surety where, without consent, the creditor grants a moratorium; makes subrogation impossible through its conduct; or accepts a different performance from the debtor, even if the creditor later loses that item through eviction. C047–C050. Planalto+1
12. Novation and settlement can affect a surety, but they must not be inferred from every amendment. Novation without the surety’s consent releases the surety. A transaction between creditor and debtor also releases the surety under art. 844 §1. By contrast, an ordinary amendment that does not create novation requires analysis of the instrument, the surety’s consent and whether the amendment enlarged the guaranteed risk. C051–C055, C066–C074. Planalto+2
13. Spousal authorization is a material separate gateway. Except under the statutory separação absoluta exception, a spouse may not give fiança or aval without the other spouse’s authorization. Missing authorization is annulable under art. 1649, subject to the protected spouse’s standing and statutory period, while STJ Súmula 332 states that an unauthorized fiança entails total ineffectiveness of the guarantee. C059–C063. Planalto+2
14. Being an entrepreneur or guaranteeing a company does not itself remove the spousal-consent rule. The STJ’s official 2022 publication reports a unanimous Fourth Panel decision requiring authorization where an entrepreneur guaranteed the company’s obligation. C064. STJ
15. Bad-faith concealment of marital status can create an adverse branch, but it is highly fact-specific. A 2026 Third Panel judgment left in place a result applying objective good faith against a surety who deliberately omitted or falsely declared marital status. The decision did not create a universal exception, did not reweigh the factual record and did not eliminate the non-consenting spouse’s statutory protection in ordinary cases. C065. STJ+2
16. Unconsented amendments require precise classification. STJ Súmula 214 says a lease surety is not liable for obligations resulting from an amendment to which the surety did not consent. Later STJ authority distinguishes an unconsented increase or new obligation from an automatic extension already contemplated by the original guarantee. C066–C074. STJ+2
17. No conclusion is made about attachment of a guarantor’s home. The family-home, lease-surety, constitutional, STF/STJ and statutory-exception questions are expressly deferred. This report neither states that every guarantor home is protected nor that every guarantor home is attachable. C075.

G1. Classifying the legal relationship

G1.1 Current federal bodies

The principal operative source is the current compiled Civil Code, Lei 10.406/2002:

https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/2002/l10406compilada.htm

Material provisions freshly read for PASS-16 include:

• arts. 45–47 — juristic-person existence and representation;
• arts. 132 — narrow calendar convention;
• arts. 257–285 — divisible, indivisible and solidary obligations;
• art. 287 — narrow assignment/accessory boundary;
• arts. 364–366 — novation and guarantee effects;
• arts. 385–388 — remission and co-debtor effects;
• art. 661 — special authority to compromise, only as an authority boundary;
• arts. 818–839 — fiança;
• art. 844 — transaction effects;
• arts. 1642 and 1647–1650 — spousal authorization; and
• art. 2.044 — original commencement.

Civil Code art. 2.044 provides entry into force one year after publication; the official footer identifies DOU publication on January 11, 2002. PASS-16 does not compute a separate exact effective-date anniversary. C001–C002. Planalto+1

G1.2 Merely joint/divided versus solidary obligations

Divisible obligations with several debtors or creditors

Civil Code art. 257 provides the default:

Where an obligation is divisible and there is more than one debtor or creditor, it is presumed divided into as many equal and distinct obligations as there are creditors or debtors.

That is not passive solidarity. A creditor ordinarily claims only the share of each debtor unless a law or valid agreement supplies solidarity. C005. Planalto

Indivisible obligations

Art. 258 defines an indivisible obligation by the nature of its performance, economic reason or the transaction’s determining reason. Under art. 259, each debtor can be compelled to perform the whole indivisible prestation, with internal subrogation or contribution afterward. C006–C007. Planalto

The fact that each debtor may owe the whole does not convert every indivisible obligation into solidarity. The source and consequences differ.

Solidarity

Civil Code art. 264 defines solidarity by:

• several creditors, each entitled to the whole; or
• several debtors, each obliged for the whole.

Article 265 then supplies the controlling presumption rule:

Solidarity is not presumed; it results from law or the parties’ will.

Article 266 permits different conditions, terms and payment places among solidary participants without necessarily destroying solidarity. C008–C009. Planalto+1

Special statutory exceptions

The general “not presumed” rule can be displaced by a special statute. Two relevant examples are:

• co-sureties guaranteeing the same debt, who are solidary under Civil Code art. 829 unless division is expressly reserved; and
• co-lessors or co-tenants under Lease Law art. 2, who are presumed solidary unless the contract provides otherwise.

C025, C037. Lease Law full URL: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l8245.htm. Planalto+1

G1.3 Active solidarity

Where several creditors are solidary:

• each can demand full performance;
• before a suit, the debtor may pay any solidary creditor;
• payment to one extinguishes the debt to the amount paid;
• a creditor who receives payment or remits the debt owes the other creditors their internal shares;
• a personal defense against one creditor does not necessarily operate against the others; and
• judgment effects follow the statute’s specific rules.

C010–C012. Civil Code arts. 267–274. Planalto

This report does not determine any actual active-creditor share, authority or accounting obligation.

G1.4 Passive solidarity: external claim

Civil Code art. 275 permits the creditor to demand:

• all of the debt from one debtor;
• part of the debt from one debtor;
• or payment from several debtors.

A suit against one debtor does not, by itself, waive solidarity against the others. Partial payment leaves all solidary debtors liable for the unpaid balance. C013–C014. Planalto+1

Death of a solidary debtor

If one solidary debtor dies, each heir is personally liable only to the extent of the inheritance share, except where the obligation is indivisible. The heirs collectively are treated as one solidary debtor in relation to the other debtors. C015. Civil Code art. 276. Planalto

Partial payment and remission

Partial payment or remission obtained by one debtor benefits the others only to the amount paid or remitted. C016. Civil Code art. 277. Planalto

New condition imposed on one debtor

A condition or obligation additionally agreed between the creditor and one solidary debtor cannot worsen the others’ positions without their consent. C017. Civil Code art. 278. Planalto

Impossibility, damages and default interest

If performance becomes impossible through one debtor’s fault:

• all remain liable for the equivalent value;
• only the culpable debtor answers for damages.

All answer externally for default interest, while the debtor whose conduct caused the default must reimburse the others internally. C018–C019. Civil Code arts. 279–280. Planalto

Defenses

A solidary debtor may raise:

• defenses personal to that debtor; and
• defenses common to all.

The debtor may not use a defense personal to another co-debtor. C020. Art. 281. Planalto

Renunciation of solidarity

The creditor can renounce solidarity in favor of one, some or all debtors. Renouncing it for one does not release the others from solidarity. C021. Art. 282. Planalto

G1.5 Passive solidarity: internal contribution

A debtor who pays the whole may recover each co-debtor’s share. The share of an insolvent co-debtor is distributed equally among the others. Unless a different internal allocation is proved, shares are presumed equal. C022. Civil Code art. 283. Planalto+1

A debtor whom the creditor released from solidarity still contributes to the insolvent debtor’s share. C023. Art. 284. Planalto

If the debt concerns the exclusive interest of one solidary debtor, that debtor bears the whole internally toward the others. C024. Art. 285. Planalto

G1.6 Relationship-classification matrix

Civil Code art. 1647’s separate reference to fiança and aval, and arts. 364 and 818’s separate treatment of real security and personal surety, support maintaining these classifications rather than merging them. C056–C058. Planalto+2

G1.7 Natural person, juristic person and consumer nexus

A legal person exists upon registration of its constitutive instrument, and acts of administrators bind it only within the powers defined by that instrument. A corporate surety therefore requires evidence of:

• the entity’s existence;
• administrator or signatory authority;
• transaction-specific corporate approval;
• guarantee limits; and
• any statutory or constitutional restriction.

C004, C057. Civil Code arts. 45–47, https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/2002/l10406compilada.htm. Planalto+1

The CDC can apply where a natural or legal person is a final recipient and the counterparty is a supplier; remunerated banking, financial and credit services are expressly included. That gateway does not establish that every business surety or corporate guarantee is a consumer transaction. Full consumer-contract analysis remains deferred. C003, C058. CDC URL: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l8078compilado.htm, arts. 2–3. Planalto

G2. Fiança: form, scope, defenses, duration and discharge

G2.1 Definition and accessory character

Civil Code art. 818 defines fiança as a contract through which one person guarantees satisfaction of an obligation to the creditor if the debtor does not perform it. C026. Planalto+1

The surety is therefore ordinarily accessory to a principal obligation. The guarantee’s validity and extent depend on:

• the principal obligation;
• the written surety terms;
• the surety’s capacity and authority;
• spousal authorization where applicable;
• amendments, novation or transaction;
• statutory defenses; and
• special product or lease law.

G2.2 Writing and strict interpretation

A fiança must be in writing and cannot be interpreted expansively. C027. Civil Code art. 819. Planalto+1

Consequences:

• an unsupported oral promise ordinarily does not satisfy art. 819;
• ambiguous wording should not be stretched to cover debts, debtors, amendments or periods not fairly within the written guarantee;
• a digital or electronic instrument may raise separate signature and proof questions not decided here;
• strict interpretation does not allow a surety to ignore clear written extension or waiver provisions that are otherwise valid.

G2.3 Debtor consent

A fiança may be stipulated without the debtor’s consent or even against the debtor’s will. C028. Civil Code art. 820. Planalto+1

That does not remove the creditor’s need for the surety’s valid consent, form, capacity or spousal authorization.

G2.4 Future debts

A surety can cover future debts. The surety cannot be sued until the principal obligation becomes certain and liquid. C029. Civil Code art. 821. Planalto+1

This does not support a universal conclusion that every later loan, amendment, fee or transaction is covered. The written scope, parties, credit relationship and strict-interpretation rule remain controlling.

G2.5 Scope, accessories and judicial expenses

Where the surety is not limited, it ordinarily includes:

• all accessories of the principal debt; and
• judicial expenses from the citation of the surety.

C030. Civil Code art. 822. Planalto+1

It does not automatically include:

• an unconsented new principal obligation;
• a new debtor;
• an enlarged amount beyond the written perimeter;
• fees lacking a valid source;
• unrelated debts; or
• court costs incurred before the statutory trigger where the text does not include them.

G2.6 Lesser or more favorable surety

A surety can be:

• for an amount lower than the principal debt; or
• under less onerous conditions.

If the guarantee exceeds or is more onerous than the principal obligation, it is effective only up to the principal obligation’s limit. C031. Civil Code art. 823. Planalto+1

G2.7 Invalid principal obligation

Obligations nullified by the principal debtor’s personal incapacity can generally be guaranteed, but the statutory exception does not apply to a loan made to a minor. Other null obligations are not made valid merely by fiança. C032. Civil Code art. 824. Planalto+1

No actual incapacity or principal-obligation validity finding is made.

G2.8 Suitability and replacement of surety

A creditor is not required to accept a proposed surety who:

• is not suitable;
• is not domiciled in the municipality where the surety is to be provided; or
• lacks sufficient assets to perform the obligation.

C033. Civil Code art. 825. Planalto+1

If the accepted surety becomes insolvent or incapable, the creditor may demand substitution. C034. Art. 826. Planalto+1

Suitability does not establish professional licensing, creditworthiness for every purpose or settlement authority.

G2.9 Benefit of excussion

A surety sued for the debt may demand that the principal debtor’s assets be pursued first, but must:

• invoke the benefit by the deadline for presenting the defense;
• identify the debtor’s assets;
• identify assets located in the same municipality;
• show they are free and unencumbered; and
• show they are sufficient to satisfy the debt.

C035. Civil Code art. 827. Planalto+1

Exceptions

The benefit is unavailable where:

1. the surety expressly waived it;
2. the surety undertook as principal payer or solidary debtor; or
3. the principal debtor is insolvent or bankrupt.

C036. Art. 828. Planalto+1

An enforceable waiver must still be present in the actual instrument and survive any applicable consumer or validity challenge.

G2.10 Co-sureties

Several sureties guaranteeing the same debt are solidary among themselves unless they expressly reserve division. C037. Civil Code art. 829. Planalto+1

Where division is reserved:

• each surety answers only for the specified part;
• the parties can stipulate each surety’s portion separately.

C038. Arts. 829 sole paragraph and 830. Planalto+1

G2.11 Surety payment, subrogation and internal recourse

The surety who pays the whole is subrogated in the creditor’s rights. If there are co-sureties, the paying surety can recover each one’s share. The insolvent co-surety’s share is distributed among the others. C039–C040. Civil Code art. 831. Planalto+1

The principal debtor answers to the surety for the losses and damages the surety pays or suffers because of the guarantee. C041. Art. 832. Planalto+1

The surety is entitled to interest on the disbursement:

• at the rate stipulated in the principal obligation; or
• absent such a rate, at the legal default rate.

No actual rate is calculated here. C042. Art. 833. Planalto+1

Once the creditor has begun execution, the surety may advance it if the creditor delays without just cause. C043. Art. 834. Planalto+1

G2.12 Indefinite surety and prospective exoneration

A surety without a contractual duration may notify the creditor of exoneration at any time. The surety remains liable for all effects of the guarantee for 60 days after notification. C044. Civil Code art. 835. Planalto+1

This is not:

• immediate release;
• retroactive cancellation;
• a release of already accrued liability;
• proof that the notice reached the creditor;
• or a universal rule for the separate lease branch.

The STJ’s official 2020 publication states that a contractual waiver of the exoneration right did not remain effective after indefinite extension in the general surety setting before it, and described the 60-day runoff. That is an official decision explanation, not a universal rewriting of every guarantee. C073. STJ

G2.13 Death and heirs

The surety obligation passes to the surety’s heirs, but their responsibility is limited:

• temporally, to the period elapsed until the surety’s death; and
• economically, to the value of the inherited estate.

C045. Civil Code art. 836. Planalto+1

This differs from the principal solidary debtor’s heirs under art. 276. Full probate, estate administration and procedural claim presentation remain deferred.

G2.14 Defenses

The surety can raise:

• personal defenses; and
• defenses belonging to the principal debtor that extinguish the obligation.

The surety cannot ordinarily invoke the principal debtor’s personal incapacity, subject to the statutory minor-loan qualification. C046. Civil Code art. 837. Planalto+1

G2.15 Statutory discharge

Even where the surety is solidary or waived excussion, the surety is discharged when, without consent:

1. the creditor grants the debtor a moratorium;
2. the creditor’s act makes subrogation into the creditor’s rights and preferences impossible; or
3. the creditor accepts from the debtor an object different from what was owed, even if the creditor later loses it through eviction.

C047–C049. Civil Code art. 838. Planalto+1

If a surety properly invoked excussion and identified sufficient debtor assets, but the debtor later became insolvent because the creditor delayed pursuing them, the surety is discharged by proving that the assets were sufficient when attached. C050. Art. 839. Planalto+1

G2.16 Novation, transaction, assignment and remission—narrow effects only

C051–C055. Planalto+4

These narrow effects do not import the unreviewed PASS-09 settlement or PASS-13 assignment reports.

G3. Marital consent, lease extensions and published court qualifications

G3.1 Spousal authorization

Civil Code art. 1647 provides that, except under the statutory regime da separação absoluta, one spouse may not, without the other spouse’s authorization:

• give fiança; or
• give aval.

C059. Full URL: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/2002/l10406compilada.htm, art. 1647(III). Planalto+1

PASS-16 does not determine:

• the actual marital-property regime;
• whether a separation arrangement is “absolute” for this provision;
• the date or validity of a marriage;
• whether authorization was supplied;
• or whether a signature was authentic.

G3.2 Judicially supplied authorization

A judge may supply authorization where one spouse unjustifiably refuses it or where obtaining it is impossible. C060. Civil Code art. 1648. Planalto

No actual judicial request or order is examined.

G3.3 Consequence, ratification and standing

Absent required authorization that was not judicially supplied:

• the act is annulable;
• the non-consenting spouse may seek annulment until two years after the marital society ends;
• later approval validates the act if given by public instrument or authenticated private instrument; and
• only the spouse who should have authorized, or that spouse’s heirs, may invoke the defect.

C061–C062. Civil Code arts. 1649–1650. Planalto+1

This statutory language must be read alongside the STJ’s specific surety doctrine.

G3.4 STJ Súmula 332

STJ Súmula 332 states:

“A fiança prestada sem autorização de um dos cônjuges implica a ineficácia total da garantia.”

It was approved by the Corte Especial on March 5, 2008 and published in the DJe on March 13, 2008. C063. Official URL: https://scon.stj.jus.br/SCON/sumstj/doc.jsp?b=SUMU&h=true&i=1&l=10&livre=SUMULA+INPATH(TIPO)+AND+332+INPATH(NUM)&ordenacao=-@NUM,-@DOCN&p=false. STJ

PASS-16 does not attempt to resolve every doctrinal formulation between Civil Code “annulability” and the STJ’s “total ineffectiveness” wording outside an actual procedural posture.

G3.5 Business guarantee does not remove authorization requirement

The STJ’s official July 26, 2022 publication reports that the Fourth Panel unanimously required spousal authorization where an entrepreneur guaranteed the company’s debt, rejecting the proposition that commercial purpose alone displaced art. 1647. C064. Official URL: https://www.stj.jus.br/sites/portalp/Paginas/Comunicacao/Noticias/26072022-Empresario-precisa-de-autorizacao-do-conjuge-para-ser-fiador-da-empresa--decide-Quarta-Turma.aspx. STJ+1

This is an official decision explanation, not a full all-context corporate-guarantee code.

G3.6 Deliberate concealment or false declaration of marital status

In REsp 1.973.459-RJ:

• the Third Panel decided the appeal unanimously in a virtual session ending May 11, 2026;
• the judgment was published May 15, 2026;
• the court did not reweigh the factual record;
• the ementa records the rule that only the non-consenting spouse or heirs ordinarily invoke the missing authorization; and
• it records an objective-good-faith adverse branch where the surety deliberately omits or falsely states marital status.

C065. Official PDF URL: https://scon.stj.jus.br/SCON/GetInteiroTeorDoAcordao?dt_publicacao=15/05/2026&num_registro=202101546816. Relevant zero-based PDF indices: 0–1 for the ementa and result; 5 for the factual/good-faith discussion; 10–11 for quoted surety and transaction authorities. STJ+5

The judgment does not establish that:

• every omission was intentional;
• every contract form created a duty to volunteer marital status;
• the consenting signer may always invoke the spouse’s protection;
• or the surety is valid without proof of the specific bad-faith facts.

G3.7 Unconsented amendments — Súmula 214

STJ Súmula 214 states that a lease surety is not liable for obligations resulting from an amendment to which the surety did not consent. C066.

Official URL: https://scon.stj.jus.br/SCON/sumstj/doc.jsp?b=SUMU&i=1&l=10&livre=%22214%22.num.&operador=E&ordenacao=-@NUM&p=false.

The Third Section approved it on September 23, 1998; it was published October 2, 1998. STJ+1

An “amendment” must still be classified. A change may:

• enlarge rent or principal;
• grant a moratorium;
• change term;
• add new obligations;
• merely apply a correction mechanism already agreed;
• or implement an automatic extension contemplated in the original instrument.

G3.8 Automatic extension — Súmula 656

STJ Súmula 656 states that a clause automatically extending the surety upon renewal of the principal contract is valid, while exoneration depends on the surety’s notification under art. 835. It was approved by the Second Section on November 9, 2022 and published November 16, 2022. C067.

Official URL: https://scon.stj.jus.br/SCON/sumstj/doc.jsp?b=SUMU&h=true&i=1&l=10&livre=SUMULA+INPATH(TIPO)+AND+656+INPATH(NUM)&ordenacao=-@NUM,-@DOCN&p=false. STJ

This does not authorize extension to materially new obligations outside the written guarantee.

G3.9 Current lease-law duration rule

Lease Law art. 39 provides that, unless the contract states otherwise, guarantees extend until actual return of the property, even where the lease is legally extended for an indefinite period. C068.

Art. 40(X) allows the landlord to demand a replacement guarantee after an indefinite extension once the surety notifies the landlord of an intent to be released, with the surety remaining liable for 120 days after notification. C069.

Full current Lease Law URL: https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/l8245.htm. Planalto+1

Lei 12.112/2009 inserted the current amended language:

https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2007-2010/2009/lei/l12112.htm.

The amendment was published in the DOU on December 10, 2009. The standalone amendment body read here does not supply a separate express commencement clause in its surviving text; PASS-16 relies on the current compiled Lease Law for present wording and does not invent a different historical effective date. C070. Planalto+1

G3.10 Notice during a fixed lease

The STJ’s official 2019 publication states that where the surety notified the landlord during the fixed term, the 120-day period began only when the lease became indefinite. C071.

Official URL: https://www.stj.jus.br/sites/portalp/Paginas/Comunicacao/Noticias/2019/Exoneracao-do-fiador-notificada-no-prazo-do-contrato-so-tem-efeito-120-dias-apos-locacao-se-tornar-indeterminada.aspx. STJ

The actual transition date requires the lease and extension chronology.

G3.11 Older lease transitional branch

The STJ’s official February 17, 2021 publication reports that, for the pre-2009 lease before it, the ordinary Civil Code 60-day rule applied rather than the later 120-day Lease Law rule. C072.

Official URL: https://www.stj.jus.br/sites/portalp/Paginas/Comunicacao/Noticias/17022021-Em-locacao-anterior-a-2009--fiador-so-continua-obrigado-por-60-dias-apos-notificar-exoneracao.aspx. STJ

That is a dated transitional decision explanation, not a conclusion about any current contract.

G3.12 Waiver after indefinite extension

The STJ’s official 2020 publication states, in the general surety setting before it, that a clause waiving the exoneration right did not remain effective after indefinite extension and described a 60-day post-notice liability period. C073.

Official URL: https://www.stj.jus.br/sites/portalp/Paginas/Comunicacao/Noticias/Clausula-de-renuncia-do-direito-de-exoneracao-do-fiador-nao-tem-eficacia-apos-a-prorrogacao-do-contrato-de-fianca.aspx. STJ

G3.13 Original rent versus unconsented increase

The STJ’s official November 30, 2017 publication reports a Third Panel distinction:

• the surety remained responsible under the original guarantee for the original rent and contractual correction during the extension; but
• the surety was not responsible for the unconsented rent increase in the amendment.

C074. Official URL: https://www.stj.jus.br/sites/portalp/Paginas/Comunicacao/Noticias-antigas/2017/2017-11-30_09-19_Falta-de-anuencia-nao-desobriga-fiador-na-prorrogacao-do-contrato-de-aluguel.aspx. STJ

This is a bounded official explanation, not an exhaustive amendment doctrine.

G3.14 Family-home attachment held

C075. PASS-16 does not research or decide:

• Lei 8.009/1990 family-home protection;
• the lease-surety exception;
• STF constitutional treatment;
• homestead ownership or residence predicates;
• procedural attachment;
• competing family members’ rights; or
• state/local execution practice.

No statement that “all guarantor homes are attachable” or “all family homes are protected” is authorized by this report.

G4. Fifteen fictional workflows

All parties, instruments, dates, amounts and assets below are invented. They demonstrate conditional classification only.

H01 — Two debtors sign without solidarity wording

Facts: Debtors A and B sign an ordinary divisible R$10,000 obligation. No law or clause states that each is liable for the whole.

Claims: C005, C008–C009.

Conditional result: Art. 257 presumptively divides the obligation into equal, distinct shares:

R$10,000.00 / 2 debtors = R$5,000.00 candidate share each

This is a classification illustration, not a conclusion that the actual shares are equal. A different allocation, indivisibility or statutory solidarity could displace it.

Required proof: Complete instrument, product law and allocation terms.

Adverse branch: A valid clause may expressly make A and B solidary.

Exact next question: What text or statute makes either signer liable for more than that signer’s divided share?

H02 — Express solidary debt and partial payment

Facts:

• Express passive solidarity.
• External debt before payment: R$12,000.00.
• Debtor A pays R$5,000.00.
• No remission or settlement is assumed.

Claims: C013–C016.

External calculation:

R$12,000.00 − R$5,000.00 = R$7,000.00 unpaid external balance

All solidary debtors remain externally liable for the R$7,000 balance.

No internal contribution amount is calculated because the instrument’s internal shares and ultimate payments are unknown.

Adverse branch: If the creditor expressly remitted part or renounced solidarity, the result changes.

Exact next question: Was the R$5,000 merely partial payment, or did the creditor also release a debtor or share?

H03 — Creditor remits one debtor’s share

Facts: A R$12,000 solidary debt has three debtors. The creditor validly remits Debtor A’s corresponding share but reserves rights against B and C.

Claims: C016, C021, C054.

Conditional answer: Remission benefits the others only up to the remitted amount. The remaining demand must deduct A’s share.

Negative branch: A transaction with A could have the distinct art. 844 §3 effect and must not be treated automatically as simple remission.

Unknown facts: Actual internal shares, wording and whether the act was remission, solidarity waiver or transaction.

Exact next question: What legal act did the creditor sign—remission, transaction or waiver of solidarity?

H04 — One insolvent solidary co-debtor

Facts:

• Three solidary debtors A, B and C.
• Total debt: R$12,000.00.
• No contrary internal allocation.
• Debt is not exclusively for one debtor.
• A pays the whole.
• C is insolvent.

Claims: C022–C024.

Step 1 — presumed original shares

R$12,000.00 / 3 = R$4,000.00 each

Step 2 — distribute C’s insolvent share among A and B

R$4,000.00 / 2 solvent debtors = R$2,000.00 each

Step 3 — A’s recovery from B

B’s original share R$4,000.00 + B’s insolvency allocation R$2,000.00 = R$6,000.00

Conditional result:

• A bears R$6,000 internally.
• A may recover R$6,000 from B.
• C’s recovery remains subject to insolvency and later recourse.

No rounding is required.

Adverse branch: If the debt exclusively benefited B, art. 285 could place the whole internally on B. If shares were contractually unequal, this example fails.

Exact next question: What evidence establishes the internal shares and who exclusively benefited from the obligation?

H05 — Written surety versus oral promise

Facts: In Branch A, a signed writing says Surety S guarantees identified Debt X. In Branch B, S orally says, “I’ll make sure it gets paid,” with no writing.

Claims: C026–C029.

Conditional result:

• Branch A can satisfy art. 819’s writing gateway, subject to all other requirements.
• Branch B does not ordinarily satisfy the written-form requirement for fiança.

Adverse branch: The oral statement might prove another non-surety undertaking, representation or factual admission, but cannot be relabeled as written fiança.

Missing facts: Signature authenticity, scope, principal debt and spousal authorization.

Exact next question: Which written instrument identifies the guaranteed obligation and the surety’s undertaking?

H06 — Surety invokes excussion but identifies no usable assets

Facts: Surety S is sued and asks that the creditor first pursue the debtor, but names no specific assets.

Claims: C035–C036.

Conditional result: The benefit can fail because S must timely identify sufficient, free and unencumbered debtor assets in the same municipality.

Adverse branch: If S validly waived the benefit or signed as principal payer/solidary debtor, asset identification would not restore it.

Missing facts: Defense deadline, asset location, liens, value and instrument wording.

Exact next question: Which specific debtor assets satisfied every art. 827 condition when the defense was filed?

H07 — Waiver and principal-payer branch

Facts: The surety instrument says, “S waives the benefit of order and undertakes as principal payer and solidary debtor.”

Claims: C035–C036, C047–C050.

Conditional result: Those clauses can remove the art. 827 excussion benefit.

Negative branch: They do not necessarily waive statutory discharge for unconsented moratorium, impaired subrogation or dation in payment.

Missing facts: Validity, consumer-law qualification, scope and creditor conduct.

Exact next question: Which defense was actually waived, and which statutory discharge is the creditor attempting to avoid?

H08 — Two co-sureties with and without division

Facts: S1 and S2 guarantee one debt.

Branch A: No division clause. Branch B: The written instrument caps each at 50%.

Claims: C037–C040.

Conditional result:

• Branch A: statutory solidarity between co-sureties.
• Branch B: each is limited to the stipulated portion, subject to instrument validity and principal-debt limits.

Adverse branch: Different individual caps can replace a 50/50 division.

Missing facts: Complete guarantee and any later amendment.

Exact next question: Does the writing expressly reserve division and state each surety’s maximum portion?

H09 — Indefinite surety notice and lease branch

Facts: Creditor receives a valid exoneration notice on Monday, October 5, 2026. No holiday or receipt-time dispute is assumed.

Ordinary Civil Code branch — 60 days

• Day 0: October 5.
• Day 1: October 6.
• Day 60: Friday, December 4, 2026.

October 5, 2026 + 60 calendar days = December 4, 2026

The surety remains liable for statutory effects during the 60-day runoff. The first full calendar day after completion is December 5, subject to the exact receipt time, endpoint rules and governing procedure.

Current indefinite residential-lease branch — 120 days

If the Lease Law art. 40(X) branch already applies on October 5:

• Day 1: October 6.
• Day 120: Tuesday, February 2, 2027.

October 5, 2026 + 120 calendar days = February 2, 2027

Claims: C044, C068–C073, C077.

Adverse branch: If notice occurred during the fixed lease term, the STJ’s 2019 rule starts the 120 days only when the lease later becomes indefinite. The October 5 calculation would then be wrong.

Missing facts: Contract date, fixed/indefinite status, notice receipt and lease transition.

Exact next question: Was the lease already indefinite when the landlord received the notice?

H10 — Debtor and creditor amend the obligation without surety consent

Facts: The creditor and debtor sign an amendment increasing the guaranteed amount and extending the term. The surety does not sign.

Claims: C051, C066–C074.

Conditional result: The surety may avoid liability for new obligations resulting from an unconsented amendment. Liability under the original instrument may continue where the original guarantee validly covers extension and the change is not a new enlarged obligation.

Adverse branch: A written automatic-extension clause may be valid under Súmula 656.

Missing facts: Original scope, amendment, increase, correction formula and surety consent.

Exact next question: Which obligation is genuinely new rather than an effect already authorized by the original guarantee?

H11 — Missing marital consent and unknown property regime

Facts: Married Surety S signs alone. No spouse signature, property-regime record or judicial authorization is supplied.

Claims: C059–C065.

Conditional result: The missing authorization presents a serious art. 1647/Súmula 332 issue unless a statutory exception or later valid approval applies.

Adverse branch: The marriage may be under separação absoluta, or the spouse may later ratify through the required form. Deliberate false marital-status statements can create an objective-good-faith branch.

Missing facts: Marriage, property regime, authorization, court order and representations.

Exact next question: What contemporaneous official evidence establishes the marital regime and the spouse’s authorization?

H12 — Creditor grants moratorium without surety consent

Facts: After default, the creditor gives the principal debtor six additional months to pay. The surety did not consent.

Claims: C047, C051–C052.

Conditional result: Art. 838(I) discharges the surety for an unconsented moratorium.

Adverse branch: The original guarantee may have validly authorized the specific extension mechanism, or the change may not legally constitute a moratorium.

Missing facts: Original agreement, extension terms and surety consent.

Exact next question: Did the creditor create a new enforceable delay in performance beyond what the surety originally accepted?

H13 — Principal debtor dies versus surety dies

Facts: In Branch A, one solidary principal debtor dies. In Branch B, the surety dies.

Claims: C015, C045.

Conditional result:

• Principal debtor’s heirs: each ordinarily limited to the inherited share, collectively treated as one solidary debtor, subject to indivisibility.
• Surety’s heirs: liability limited to effects accrued until death and the estate value.

Adverse branch: An indivisible obligation or special estate rule can alter administration and enforcement.

Missing facts: Date of death, estate, inheritance shares, accrual and proceedings.

Exact next question: Which liabilities accrued before death, and what value entered the estate?

H14 — Disputed residential-lease homestead branch

Facts: A landlord seeks attachment of a residence owned by a lease surety.

Claims: C068–C075.

Conditional result: PASS-16 does not decide attachment. Surety validity and duration do not themselves answer family-home exemption, statutory exception, constitutional validity, ownership or procedure.

Missing facts: Property ownership, residence, lease type, family status, applicable statute, judgment and current controlling precedent.

Exact next question: Which specific homestead statute and controlling STF/STJ authority govern this property and lease?

H15 — Juristic person gives a surety

Facts: Company G signs as surety for Company D. An employee signs using the title “commercial manager.”

Claims: C004, C057–C058, C076.

Conditional result: Company G’s legal existence and the employee’s authority must be proved from constitutive and delegated powers. The signature does not itself establish corporate authority, consumer status or professional permission.

Adverse branch: A board resolution, bylaws or power of attorney may expressly authorize the guarantee.

Missing facts: Constitutive act, corporate approvals, power of attorney and transaction purpose.

Exact next question: What corporate instrument authorized this person to bind G as surety for D’s obligation?

Workflow count: 15, H01–H15.

G5. P01 D13 old-to-new crosswalk

Literal reviewed P01 row preserved

Original coordinator status: explicit_deferred_hold_preserved.

PASS-16 narrow dispositions

Crosswalk count: 15 visible data rows—one preserved P01 row plus 14 disposition rows.

PASS-16 source register

Access date for every source: October 26, 2026 PDT / October 27, 2026 UTC. Exact source-opening clocks: Unknown. Publication dates: Source metadata, not access times.

Displayed source count: 13.

No materially relied source failed. No alternate fetch, hidden endpoint, API or security workaround was used.

Atomic claim/evidence register

Displayed claim count: 80, C_BR-P16-C001–C080.

Complete granular core coverage

Displayed core-coverage count: 111, P16-G01–G111.

Separately named deferred families

Displayed deferred-family count: 35.

All 27 inherited states and Distrito Federal

These names are inherited from the preserved P01 territorial inventory. No geography API, IBGE endpoint or fresh territorial enumeration was used. Federal Civil Code rules do not verify every local court, registry, notarial, marital, probate or execution practice.

Displayed territorial count: 27; zero state/DF branches cleared.

Evidence-backed article, checklist and conditional-tool opportunities

A safe tool must never output “all signers owe the whole” or “the guarantor is fully liable” based only on names or signatures. Its output should identify the candidate relationship, statutory source, missing instrument, adverse branch and unresolved special-law modules.

Researcher self-check

Exact evidence required for a real classification

1. Principal obligation and every amendment.
2. Every signature and authentication record.
3. Express solidarity clause or statutory source.
4. Internal contribution or benefit-allocation terms.
5. Written surety instrument and stated cap.
6. Future-debt, extension and amendment language.
7. Excussion waiver or principal-payer language.
8. Principal debtor assets, liens, location and value.
9. Co-surety division and individual caps.
10. Payment and subrogation records.
11. Moratorium, novation, transaction or dation documents.
12. Evidence of impaired security or subrogation.
13. Exoneration notice and receipt.
14. Lease term and indefinite-extension date where applicable.
15. Death, estate and probate records.
16. Marriage and property-regime records.
17. Spousal authorization, judicial authorization or later ratification.
18. Juristic-person constitutive instruments and corporate approval.
19. Any aval, negotiable instrument, mortgage, pledge or fiduciary-security documents.
20. Consumer-purpose and supplier facts.
21. Applicable state, DF, court, registry, notarial and procedural law.
22. Current official versions and later STJ/STF treatment at the actual decision date.

Final disposition: PASS-16 establishes the narrow current federal gateway for divisible and indivisible plurality, active and passive solidarity, internal contribution, ordinary fiança, co-sureties, excussion, duration, statutory discharge, marital authorization and selected lease extensions. It does not establish that any actual signer is solidarily liable, that any guarantee is valid or enforceable, that any spouse consented, that any home is attachable, or that any provider, contract, locality or Brazil-wide model is accepted.

END C_BR PASS-16