The Superior Court of Justice (STJ) ruled in a judgment on divergence appeals that it is possible to seize a debtor’s salary to pay non-alimony debts.
According to our civil procedural legislation, it is not possible to seize “wages, subsidies, salaries, wages, remunerations, retirement benefits, pensions, annuities and pensions, as well as amounts received through the generosity of third parties and intended for the support of the debtor and his family, the earnings of a self-employed worker and the fees of a liberal professional”.
The law itself provides an exception, stating that it is possible to seize the funds listed above for payment of alimony or for payment of non-alimony debt if the debtor receives more than 50 minimum wages per month.
However, according to the understanding set out by the STJ, it is possible to seize the debtor’s salary, regardless of the amount received and as long as a salary balance is guaranteed to support him and his family and other enforcement measures have been unsuccessful.
