Family Lawyer in Portugal, Porto
Divorce, parental responsibilities, de facto union and adoption
Divorce, parental responsibilities, de facto union and adoption are matters where the first question is not which proceeding, but whether an agreement is possible. This firm handles them in Porto, with the discretion they require.
Areas
Areas of practice in Family Law
Divorce
Divorce can proceed by mutual consent or without the other spouse's agreement, and the difference between the two routes is not only one of time. It changes who decides on the home, the assets and the terms on which each person is left.
Some of these terms are fixed in the proceedings and shape what comes next.
Regulation of Parental Responsibilities
This is the proceeding that sets where the child lives (what other systems call custody), how time is organised with each parent and how important decisions in the child's life are shared.
It applies to married parents who separate and to parents who never lived together, and it can be changed when circumstances change.
De Facto Union
Living in a de facto union has legal effects, but not the same as marriage. The difference usually becomes relevant when the union ends or when one partner dies.
There are also situations where the union must be recognised by a court to produce certain effects.
Adoption Process
Adoption follows legally defined stages, and only the last one is judicial. Before it there is a path run by the social security bodies, covering the preparation and assessment of applicants and the matching between the child and the person applying.
Legal support is mainly there to help you understand which stage the process is at, what is being assessed and what can be done at each point.
Review of Foreign Judgments
A decision from a foreign court does not, as a rule, take automatic effect in Portugal. It must be reviewed and confirmed by a Portuguese court, unless specific recognition rules apply, as with decisions from other European Union Member States.
This is what applies, in most cases, to divorces granted outside the European Union, to decisions concerning children and to judgments recognising a de facto union.
Agreement or Court
What is decided before any proceedings
The first question in a Family Law case is not which proceeding. It is whether an agreement is possible.
The answer determines almost everything else: how long it takes, what it costs, how much private information enters a proceeding, and how much room each side has over the outcome. An agreement keeps the decision in the hands of the people involved. Contentious proceedings hand it to a third party who does not know the family.
What makes this choice difficult is that it rarely depends only on the wishes of the person asking. It depends on the other side's position, on what has already been said and done, on what is at stake financially and, where there are children, on what is sustainable in the long term between two people who will still have to talk to each other for years.
Seeking an agreement where the conditions for one are missing only delays the decision. Going to court when there was room to negotiate reduces what can be agreed afterwards.
That is the assessment we make before proposing a route, and it is what the first conversation is for.
Knowing which route is viable in your case requires hearing the specific situation.
Cases with a Foreign Link
When the family has foreign elements
Marriages celebrated in another country, divorces granted by foreign courts, children born abroad, spouses of another nationality. These situations have one thing in common: what happened abroad has no effect here until it is recognised by the Portuguese legal system.
This means steps that come before the Family Law proceeding itself. A divorce granted outside the European Union has to be reviewed and confirmed before civil status is changed in Portugal. A marriage celebrated abroad has to be registered in Portugal before it can serve as the basis for anything.
We handle both ends in the same firm.
Other Services
Other proceedings in Family Law
- Judicial separation of persons and property
- Court-ordered inventory of assets (arrolamento)
- Prenuptial agreements
- Establishing maternity and paternity
- Supported adult regime
- Preliminary marriage procedure
- Child protection and welfare proceedings
When the situation involves succession, partitions or the assets of a deceased person, the matter moves to another area. Inheritance.
How We Work
How we handle Family Law cases
We start by hearing the whole situation before talking about proceedings. Much of what decides the course of these cases is not in the legal facts, it is in what has happened between the people and what is still possible between them.
Everything said to the firm is covered by professional secrecy, which is a lawyer's legal duty and not an internal policy. The same duty extends to everyone who works at the firm.
Each case has one lawyer in charge, who speaks to the client and stays with them to the end. Cases are not handed between people midway.
The scope of work and the terms are set case by case, according to what the case requires, and communicated before any commitment is made.
We reply to new enquiries within one business day, in Portuguese and English.
We are a law firm in Porto, in practice since 2011.
The first conversation is to understand the situation, not to decide anything.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Family Law
My spouse will not agree to a divorce. Do I have any route?
Yes. Divorce without the other spouse’s consent exists and goes through the court. What changes compared with mutual consent is the route, the time and who decides the terms.
We live in a de facto union. Do I have the same rights as a married person?
No. A de facto union has legal effects, but it is not the same as marriage, especially regarding assets and succession.
Our parental responsibilities are already regulated. Can they be changed?
Yes, when the agreement or decision is not being complied with, or when later circumstances arise that justify it.
Are “family law” and “family and juvenile law” the same thing?
“Family and juvenile law” (direito da família e menores) is the term used in the courts and covers both: relations between adults, such as marriage, divorce and de facto union, and matters involving children, such as parental responsibilities, adoption and child protection proceedings. In many judicial districts there are dedicated courts for this jurisdiction.
I divorced in another country. Am I still married in Portugal?
It depends on the country. Outside the European Union, until the decision is reviewed and confirmed by a Portuguese court, the civil status registered in Portugal does not change. Within the European Union there are specific recognition rules.
Is the first conversation confidential even if I do not go ahead?
Yes. Professional secrecy covers what is said to the lawyer whether or not proceedings follow.
Speak to a Family Lawyer in Porto
You do not need to know which proceeding applies before speaking to us. Describe the situation and we will tell you what is at stake and what routes exist.