Atlas · Governance
Two-year forfeiture period to annul a voidable act without a specific statutory deadline
Reviewed on 2026-10-02 · next review 2027-04-02
Data
| Who | Criterion | Consequence | Source | Data date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal transaction | Law provides that a given act is voidable, without establishing a deadline to request the annulment | Forfeiture period of 2 years, starting from the date the act was concluded | Lei 10.406/2002, art. 179 | 11/01/2002 |
Data consulted on 02/10/2026.
Basis
- Lei n.º 10.406/2002 (Planalto, in Portuguese): article 179 establishes that when the law provides that a given act is voidable without setting a deadline for annulment, the forfeiture period shall be two years from the conclusion of the act.
How it applies
The rule applies subsidiarily to legal transactions. Whenever a legal norm stipulates that an act is voidable, but omits the time frame for exercising the respective annulment action, exactly two years are counted, starting from the date the act was concluded, as provided for in article 179 of Lei 10.406/2002. The counting begins immediately after the conclusion of the legal transaction, applying generally to cases where civil legislation is silent on the subject. This guideline ensures the stability of legal relations by establishing a definite time limit for challenging defects that make the act voidable, preventing the perpetuation of uncertainties regarding transactions carried out without specific deadlines defined by the legislator in the corresponding normative hypothesis.
Limits
- This sheet exclusively addresses the hypothesis in which the law qualifies the act as voidable without setting a specific deadline.
- Forfeiture or prescription periods expressly provided for specific acts (such as coercion, error, fraud against creditors, state of danger, lesion, or acts of incapables) follow their own statutory rules.
- Subsequent changes in legislation must be checked directly at the official Planalto source.