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@Mark Blonde

I have to admit that I'd never heard of this, a contract between "ficantes." So I looked around and I found the following on the appropriate site for such things (in Portuguese, of course):

mberigan

@mberigan

Thanks! That is a great start! Having gone through a divorce in the US, my biggest fear, aside from protecting my assets that I want to go to my children when I die, is avoiding the potential of alimony! Neither of us are going into this with the thought of life long support from he other if it doesn't work out, but if there is as legal risk of alimony, it makes me uncomfortable. Of course everyone hopes that things work out and all is great and beautiful, but at my age, I do recognize this is not always the case!

06/05/25 @Mark Blonde.  As @mberigan discovered, there is such a thing as a "Contrato de Realcionamento (ou Namoro)".  You and your future partner can arrange for it at the Cartório do 1º Ofício in the town where you want to settle, the same place where you would go for a União Estável or a marriage.  You can set it for whatever time period and with whatever terms the two of you agree on, and the cartório will record it. 

It's a subject that almost never comes up here because most people who post relationship questions are asking about relationships that can be formalized so that they serve as a basis for permanent residency.  This kind of contract probably would not qualify, but since you're planning on getting a retirement visa, that's not a problem for you.

I asked the following question to ChatGPT and got the same answer than the article in JusBrasil: In Brasil, is there such thing as  a Dating Contract Constitutive Agreement to avoid two people to be recognized as being into a stable union relationship? But the answer contains the following Important notes:

A dating contract does not offer absolute protection. Courts can override it if the actual nature of the relationship changes (e.g., they start living together permanently, raise children, share finances).

Judges in Brazil look at real-life behavior, not just documents. So if the relationship functions like a stable union, the contract might not hold.

I asked the following question to ChatGPT and got the same answer than the article in JusBrasil: In Brasil, is - @Soliloquy20203

That's because AI searched the Internet for the answer. Unfortunately, AI doesn't know fact from fiction, so answers it gives are possibilities, not facts.

I guess then, since I have gone through an ugly divorce, I just want to be protected. Things can start out as one thing and then get predatory, so worst case, if somehow it got into court (officials paid off?) and I got charged for alimony, if I jump a plane and go back to the USA, can I have my pension etc. seized to pay or do I just have to stay out of Brazil? Again, I just want to formalize our personal agreement and be protected. For an American, the writing of the law is kind of frightening-- leaving it to a court to determine whether you have legally become "married" when someone has never said "I do." Thanks!