Succession Agreements in Brazil: Extrajudicial Feasibility and Legal Limits - a Comparative Perspective with Portugal and Germany Systems

Purpose: This article examines the legal feasibility of succession pacts in Brazil. It focuses on the formalization through public notarial deeds, considering constitutional limits on private autonomy and the protection of forced heirs rights. The succession pact models of Portugal and Germany are also brought up, as they follow a similar Romano-Germanic Brazilian legal system. Methodology: The research follows a theoretical exploratory qualitative approach. The analysis of doctrines in the specialized literature subsidizes arguments of the premise on the legality of administrative succession pacts. Jurisprudential sentences, a case study and the analysis of Portuguese and German legal frameworks wrap up succession pacts also help back up the use of extrajudicial via to this end. Findings: Although Article 426 of the Brazilian Civil Code expressly prohibits contracts relating to the inheritance of a living person, constitutional principles protecting the autonomy of individual rights and comparative experiences of positive legal systems support a flexible interpretation. The European models discussed demonstrate that succession agreements, under the safeguard of extrajudicial services, would work, preserving the rights of forced heirs and maintaining the legal certainty. Originality: The study contributes to contemporary debates on succession planning and dejudicialization in Brazil. It offers a critical reassessment of traditional unneeded prohibitions and proposes institutional pathways for a more functional and modern succession pacts framework in Brazil.