The Third Panel of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ruled in favor of a special appeal, allowing creditors to seize amounts deposited in the current account of a debtor’s wife in order to satisfy a debt that was in the process of being enforced.
A man who lost a lawsuit was ordered to pay court costs and attorney fees equivalent to 10% of the amount in dispute. Unable to locate assets registered in his name, creditors sought authorization to seize the debt from his wife’s account.
Lower courts rejected this request, arguing that the wife was not a party to the proceedings. The Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul noted that, even if the debtor was married under the universal community of property regime, there was no automatic assumption that the amounts in the wife’s bank account were the result of the couple’s joint efforts.
Justice Marco Aurélio Bellizze, the reporting judge on the case, argued that the couple’s property regime forms a joint estate between the spouses, encompassing all credits and debts. This allows for the seizure to be carried out to settle the debt.
