Priscilla Folgosi
Lawyer at Marcos Martins Advogados
The São Paulo Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s conviction against the father for emotional abandonment of his daughter. The lawsuit was filed by the mother, who pointed out that the father abandoned his daughter, denying her company and affection for many years, failing to provide the necessary care, treating her with contempt and giving preference to the other child. The child had Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder that implies difficulties in social interaction and communication, as well as restricted interests and repetitive behavior.
When the first instance court ruled, it emphasized that “it is not a question of compensating the mere moral failure of the father or of the spouse or partner in family law, but rather of protecting the dignity of the human person, whether parental, cohabiting, married or not” and ordered the father to pay compensation to the daughter in the amount of 30,000 reais.
When analyzing the appeal filed by the father, the São Paulo Court of Justice upheld the lower court’s conviction and stressed that “heis not seeking reparation for the parent’s lack of love, but rather as a result of negligence characterized by the failure to comply with the duties of coexistence and care that are part of family power and which consist of an objective expression of affection”.
The decision also warned that the testimonial evidence and the psychosocial report showed unequivocally that there had been affective abandonment and negligence on the part of the father. Finally, it also warned that the compensation for moral damages “is adequate to compensate for the damage suffered in this case, while also observing its pedagogical purpose”.
The understanding adopted by the São Paulo Court of Justice was strictly in line with current legislation and the case law of the Higher Courts, and deserves to be highlighted and acknowledged.
