THE EXCLUSION OF THE UNWORTHY HEIR AND THE RELATIVIZATION OF THE CIVIL DECLARATORY JUDGMENT IN BRAZILIAN INHERITANCE LAW AFTER LAW NO. 14,661/2023

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of succession unworthiness in the Brazilian legal system, focusing on the changes introduced by Law No. 14,661/2023, which inserted Article 1.815-A into the Brazilian Civil Code. The study is based on the understanding that the exclusion of the unworthy heir has an ethical-legal nature aimed at preventing individuals responsible for serious offenses against the deceased from obtaining patrimonial benefits through inheritance rights. The research examines the traditional model of succession exclusion, historically dependent on the filing of an autonomous declaratory action in civil court, even in cases involving a final criminal conviction. In this context, the paper investigates the normative restructuring introduced by the new legislation, which now allows the direct production of succession effects arising from a final criminal conviction in specific situations. The methodology adopted is based on bibliographical, legislative, and doctrinal research, using a qualitative approach and deductive method. Throughout the study, the main legal impacts arising from the relativization of the civil declaratory judgment are discussed, particularly regarding procedural rationality, reduction of procedural bureaucracy, legal certainty, and the preservation of constitutional guarantees such as adversarial proceedings and full defense rights. The study concludes that Law No. 14,661/2023 represents an important milestone in the modernization of Brazilian Succession Law by promoting greater functional integration between criminal and succession jurisdictions, thereby relativizing the traditional dualistic model historically adopted in the Brazilian legal system, although the issue still raises doctrinal controversies concerning the limits of the automatic exclusion of the unworthy heir.