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Certified Brazilian Legal Separation Translation
Certified translation of the documents that record a legal separation in Brazil, including the registry annotations and endorsements that carry the legal effect and that a reader unfamiliar with the system will otherwise skip.
$24.95/page
Flat rate per page, up to 250 words. No hidden fees.
100% USCIS acceptance
Every certified translation is guaranteed to be accepted by USCIS.
24-hour delivery
Most 1-3 page documents are delivered within 24 hours. Same-day available.
The 2010 amendment, and the argument that followed
Constitutional Amendment 66 of 2010 removed the requirement of prior separation from the divorce provision, and for years it was argued that this abolished separação altogether. The courts and the 2015 Civil Procedure Code treated it as surviving, and the Supreme Court has since addressed the point.
The practical effect is that Brazilian files contain separations from before 2010, separations from after it, and divorces, and a US reader needs the dates and the instrument to know what they are looking at.
Extrajudicial separation and divorce at the cartório
Since 2007 a consensual separation or divorce with no minor or incapable children may be done by escritura pública at a cartório, with lawyers present and no judge. It is immediate and it produces a notarial deed rather than a decree.
A US office expecting a court document will be handed a notarial deed, which is fully effective. We name the cartório, the book and the page.
Averbação on the marriage record
The separation or divorce is recorded as an averbação against the marriage entry, and the certidão de casamento reissued afterwards prints the averbações in a block with their dates and the acts that produced them.
Brazilian certidões issued under the national standard carry a 32-digit matrícula encoding the cartório, book, page and entry. We transcribe it in full, because it is how the record is verified.
União estável, and what it is not
Brazil recognises união estável, a stable partnership that may be declared and dissolved by public deed and registered. It is not a marriage, and dissolving one is not a separation or a divorce, though it carries property consequences.
The names of the instruments are similar enough in translation that the distinction is routinely lost, so we name the institution explicitly. See our Brazilian marriage certificate page.
Ordering, and what the certification covers
Upload the document, choose certified translation at $24.95 per page of up to 250 words, and it comes back typically within 24 hours as a PDF formatted to mirror the original, with a signed certificate of translation accuracy on letterhead. Marginal annotations are translated in place, in the margin, and every seal, stamp and registry endorsement is translated with the text. See how we translate and certified versus standard.
Frequently asked questions
Does separação still exist in Brazil?
The 2010 amendment removed it as a precondition for divorce and its survival was argued for years. Files contain instruments from before and after, and the dates matter.
My separation was done at a notary.
Extrajudicial separation and divorce have been available at the cartório since 2007 where the parties agree and there are no minor children. Fully effective.
What is an averbação?
The annotation against the marriage entry. The reissued certidão prints them in a block with dates.
Is união estável a marriage?
No. Dissolving one is not a separation or a divorce, though it has property consequences.
Ready to get started?
Upload the document and receive the certified translation, typically within 24 hours.