Brazil expands online paternity registration and imposes five‑day notice rule for cartórios

A new digital platform launched by Brazil’s National Civil Registry allows parents to recognize paternity online, eliminating the need to visit a registry office. Mothers can input personal and child data, submit the father's information, and the father can sign electronically via the gov.br portal. The system aims to reduce the 1.7 million births lacking a father's name on the birth certificate.

The Chamber of Deputies’ Constitution and Justice Committee approved a proposal that requires civil registries to notify the judiciary within five days of a birth record that omits the father's name. The measure makes a hearing of the mother mandatory, keeps the case confidential, and obliges the Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate paternity when the alleged father does not respond within 30 days. The bill, originating in the Senate, now returns to senators for further consideration before presidential sanction.