A case for the amendment of the forced estate rule in Brazilian inheritance law

Abstract

This study is based on the post-doctoral research carried out at the Department of Private Law (University of São Paulo Faculty of Law). After two and a half years of research, the work reflects the need for a possible amendment of the forced estate rule: the succession and inheritance quotas for necessary heirs. Before the post-doctoral internship there were compelling reasons for this possible amendment, but the Covid-19 pandemic seems to have brought forward considerable reasons for it to stay the same, exactly as it is regulated, which was noted during the research. The study takes into consideration the research conducted in the post-doctoral internship, exploring reasons for and against the continuity of the law, thoughts on the main challenges in contemporary Inheritance Law, using both the past and especially the present as parameters, as well as future challenges with respect to legal consequences of the pandemic’s reality.