Bruno Calfat Advogados represented the mother of two minors in an appeal heard by one of the Civil Panels of the São Paulo State Court of Justice. The appeal was filed against a trial court decision that modified the previously established maternal sole custody—granted in a custody action—to a joint custody arrangement.
In the appeal, the appellant demonstrated the absence of any new facts justifying a change in the previously adopted custody regime, as well as the inapplicability of Article 1,584, para. 2 of the Brazilian Civil Code, which provides that, when both parents are capable of exercising parental authority, joint custody should be granted. The appellant further showed that, in line with the settled case law of both the Panel and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), in situations of high conflict between parents, sole custody should remain with one of them, since joint custody would likely harm rather than benefit the children.
The prevailing decision of the Panel fully upheld the appellant’s arguments, recognizing that the high level of conflict between the parents makes joint custody unfeasible and contrary to the children’s best interests. It was also emphasized that the fact that the parents reside in different states further reinforces the practical impossibility of the imposed shared custody arrangement.