Enforcing a Judgment: What to Do to Collect What You Won in Court

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Winning a favorable judgment does not mean the money is in your account. When the debtor does not pay voluntarily, the judgment enforcement phase begins. At this stage, the creditor must prompt the court to act, request the statutory penalty and, often, trace the debtor’s assets to turn the victory into actual payment.

Winning the case is only the beginning of collection

Once the merits phase is over and the right has been recognized, many people assume the money will simply arrive. In practice, what you hold is a judicial enforcement instrument, meaning a document that authorizes compulsory collection, not an order for an immediate transfer of funds.

Judgment enforcement is the stage in which that instrument gains real force. The creditor must submit an updated statement of the debt, with inflation adjustment and interest, and ask the court to order the debtor to pay. Without that request, the case sits idle, even though the right is already established.

The fifteen-day deadline and the ten percent penalty

For obligations to pay a fixed sum, Article 523 of Brazil’s Code of Civil Procedure (Código de Processo Civil) sets a fifteen-day period for voluntary payment, counted from the debtor’s formal notice. If the debt is paid within that period, collection ends with no additional charges.

If the period expires without payment, the law imposes significant consequences. A ten percent penalty is added to the amount, along with attorney’s fees of ten percent of the sum owed. This total increase of twenty percent encourages voluntary compliance and penalizes unjustified resistance.

Once the deadline has passed, the proceeding moves on to the seizure of assets, including the possible attachment (penhora) of property and funds sufficient to satisfy the creditor.

This is where skilled legal work makes a difference. Generic requests tend to slow the case down, while well-supported requests that point to specific enforcement measures speed up the recovery of the debt.

Once the merits phase is over and the right has been recognized, many people assume the money will simply arrive.

Attachment and expropriation: how the debtor’s assets answer for the debt

Attachment (penhora) is the act that identifies and sets aside the debtor’s assets to guarantee payment. It can fall on cash, real estate, vehicles, ownership interests in companies, a business’s revenue and other rights with economic value, subject to the order of preference set by law and the protection of assets that cannot be attached.

Once an asset is attached, expropriation follows: a set of measures that converts the debtor’s property into funds for the creditor. The most common forms are adjudication, in which the creditor keeps the asset at its appraised value, sale by private initiative and judicial auction.

When the attachment reaches money in a bank account, payment tends to come quickly. Seizing assets that must be appraised and sold, on the other hand, requires additional steps, which is why it is important to identify the debtor’s most liquid assets early on.

Asset searches: how to locate the debtor’s property

Enforcement is only effective when assets that can be seized are found. That is why the asset search is the heart of the enforcement phase, especially when debtors hide or scatter their property.

The courts have electronic tools that greatly expand the ability to locate assets. The main ones include:

• Sisbajud (the court system for freezing funds in bank accounts and financial investments), including the so-called teima (a function that automatically repeats the freeze order until the full amount owed is reached).
• Renajud (the court system for searching vehicles registered in the debtor’s name), which allows restrictions and attachment.
• Infojud (the court system for accessing tax returns and asset data held by the Receita Federal, Brazil’s federal tax authority), with court authorization.
• Freezing the sale of real estate through the national registry hub, which prevents the property from being sold while collection is underway.

Beyond the official systems, it is wise to investigate property registry records, commercial registries, social media and outward signs of wealth. Cross-checking this information helps identify assets held in the names of third parties, fraudulent transfers meant to defeat enforcement and asset shielding.

To make enforcement truly effective, a few precautions are decisive: keep the debt calculation updated at all times, request investigative measures with solid reasoning, act quickly to prevent the debtor from emptying out their assets and closely follow every measure the court grants. The combination of technical skill and diligence is often what separates a debt that gets recovered from one that is lost over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the winning party receive payment automatically?

No. A favorable judgment creates an enforcement instrument, but payment depends on the debtor’s voluntary compliance or on the judgment enforcement phase. The creditor must submit an updated calculation and request collection measures. Without them, the case sits idle.

How long does the debtor have to pay before the penalty applies?

The debtor has fifteen days, counted from formal notice, to pay voluntarily. If the debtor does not pay within that period, the amount is increased by a ten percent penalty and ten percent in attorney’s fees, for a total of twenty percent on the debt, and the court may also order the attachment of assets.

How can the debtor’s assets be located?

Assets are located through the courts’ electronic systems, which make it possible to freeze bank accounts, identify vehicles, access tax data and block the sale of real estate. These tools can be combined with searches of public records and evidence of wealth, increasing the chances of effective enforcement.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.