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Decree-Law no. 59/2021, of July 14, was published, forcing companies to create lower-cost alternatives to phone numbers beginning with 707 or 808, which have higher rates. This applies to consumer contact phone lines provided by suppliers of goods or service providers, as well as public utilities. Making these phone lines available will be mandatory as of November. Fines for those who do not comply with the new rules will only apply from June 2022.

Any entity that provides telephone lines for consumer contact must clearly and visibly indicate, in its commercial messages, on the main page of its online website, on invoices, in written messages sent to the consumer and in written contracts entered with the consumer, the telephone number or numbers provided. These must be accompanied, also in a clear and visible manner, by updated information on the price of calls.

Information on numbers and the price of calls should first indicate toll-free lines and geographic or mobile lines, and then, if relevant, in ascending order of price, the number and price of calls to other lines. The price charged to the consumer for calls to the telephone lines specified by the supplier of goods or service provider at the time of contact within the scope of a legal consumer relationship may not exceed the basic rate.

The provider of basic public utilities is obliged to provide the consumer with a telephone helpline. This must be toll-free for the consumer or, alternatively, a telephone line to which corresponds a geographic or mobile numbering range.

The supplier of goods or services and the provider of public utilities who are obliged to provide a toll-free telephone line or a telephone line with a geographic or mobile numbering range are prohibited from charging the consumer upfront for anything other than the permitted amount, on condition that this amount is returned to the consumer at the end of the call.

Finally, all public entities that provide telephone lines with special numbers, with the prefixes 808 and 30, must establish an alternative to telephone numbers with the prefix two, no later than ninety days from November 1, 2021.

Law 58-A/2020, of September 30, establishes that the extraordinary regime for the protection of tenants, within the scope of exceptional and temporary measures to respond to the pandemic, will continue to apply until the end of this year, preventing

The law came into effect on October 1 and precludes the termination and expiration of lease agreements, as well as the foreclosure of properties where tenants live until December 31, 2020.

Until December 31, 2020, the effects of the landlord’s termination of housing and non-housing leases, the forfeiture of housing and non-housing leases, unless the tenant does not object to the termination, will be suspended, as well as the landlord’s objection to the renewal of housing and non-housing leases, the six-month term set forth in the Civil Code for the return of the property upon expiration of rental agreements, if the expiration of such term occurs during the exceptional measures period, and the foreclosure of a mortgage on a property that is the executed party’s own permanent residence.

The suspension until December 31 now established is conditional on regular payment of the rent due that month.

Tenants who do not benefit from the regime of deferment of non-housing rents will have to pay the rents due until the end of the year on time to keep the deadlines in abeyance.

The recently approved Act also establishes that, until December 31st, 2020, applications may be submitted to request financial support from Instituto da Habitação e da Reabilitação Urbana, I. P, in cases of overdue payment of the rent due pursuant to housing leases, if there is a verifiable drop in income. This applies to the tenant with a housing lease contract who permanently resides in the rented dwelling; to the guarantor of the housing tenant who is a student and has no income from work; to the student with a housing rental contract at a distance of more than fifty kilometers from their household’s permanent residence to attend the educational institution, provided that, cumulatively, they have a decrease in household income of more than 20% compared to the income of the previous month or the same period of the previous year (the same month of 2019), whose effort rate calculated as a percentage of the income of all household members for the payment of the rent is or becomes higher than 35%.

Decree-Law no. 95/2020, of November 4, in force since November 5, determines the reduction of the guarantee periods for access to unemployment benefits and to the subsidy for cessation of activity, and provides for the suspension of the exclusivity regime in the legal system of social protection in case of unemployment for employees.

The formula for calculating the reference pay is used to determine the daily amount to be received in the event of termination of activity during a state of emergency or public calamity, by workers entitled to unemployment benefit, workers with economically dependent self-employment and entitled to severance pay, and workers with professional activity and entitled to severance pay.

According to the approved law, workers with 180 and 360 days of employment, with the corresponding proof of remuneration, in a 24-month period immediately prior to the date of unemployment, and who were unemployed during the state of emergency and public calamity situation, are entitled to unemployment benefits.

From May 27, 2020, for workers entitled to unemployment benefit, the daily amount of unemployment benefit will be equal to the net baseline remuneration calculated on the basis of the baseline remuneration defined by R/(30 × n), where R represents the total remuneration reported from the beginning of the reference period until the day before unemployment and n is the number of months.

For workers entitled to severance pay, 180 days of economically dependent self-employment in a 24-month period, the daily amount of severance pay is equal to the net baseline remuneration calculated on the basis of the baseline remuneration defined by R/(30 × n), where R represents the total remuneration reported from the start of the reference period until the day before unemployment and n the number of months.

For workers entitled to severance pay, 360 days of employment in a 48-month period, the daily amount of the severance pay is equal to the net baseline remuneration on the basis of the baseline remuneration defined by R/(30 × n), where R represents the total remuneration reported from the start of the reference period until the day before unemployment and n the number of months.

The temporary suspension of the exclusivity regime, when the flat-rate unemployment benefits regime is applied, will come into effect on April 1 of this year.

In the current pandemic, Ordinance no. 256/2020, of October 28, simplified the process of recognition of the Informal Caregiver Status, reducing by half the deadline for completing the process and waiving the submission of documents that are difficult to obtain during the pandemic, such as the medical certificate. The deadline for completing the process is reduced from 60 to 30 days.

The recognition of the informal caregiver status depends on the submission of an application, in a proper document, to the social security services or through the Social Security Direct portal. This application must include the necessary information to check the generic requirements established for the informal caregiver, as well as the documents and evidence to be submitted.

The application must include proof of the cared-for person’s consent (failure to do so will result in the application being rejected). But the law that has now been approved no longer requires a medical certificate guaranteeing that the applicant is physically and psychologically fit to care for the person being cared for.

For holders of the second-degree dependency supplement, or for recipients of the third-party care allowance, there will be a transitional exemption from the medical statement.

Until December 31, 2020, applications may be submitted only with a declaration of informed consent signed by the person being cared for, without a medical statement attesting that the person is in full use of their intellectual faculties. A period of 90 days from the date of approval is given for the submission of this medical statement, under penalty of forfeiture.

The social security services will decide within thirty days of the application being filed, provided it has been duly completed. The application is considered to have been duly completed on the date on which the last document proving that the conditions necessary for the recognition of the right have been met is presented. The granting of the application allows the petitioner to have the status of informal caregiver recognized.

A medical certificate attesting that the applicant is physically and psychologically fit is no longer necessary. Until December 31 it is possible to submit certain documents that involve subsequent medical acts.

According to the joint order of January 8, 2021, signed by the Assistant Secretary of State and Fiscal Affairs (SEAAF), and by the Secretary of State for Social Security, tax foreclosure proceedings underway or to be initiated by the Tax and Customs Authority and Social Security will be suspended between January 1 and March 31, 2021.

In light of the international public health emergency, declared by the World Health Organization, the government has approved exceptional measures to ease compliance with tax obligations, both declarative and payment, as well as to support families and companies, to lessen the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – among them, the suspension of tax foreclosure proceedings until June 30, 2020, first by Law no. 1-A/2020 of March 19, and then by Decree Law no. 10-F/2020 of March 26.

Considering that tax compliance is extremely important, especially to obtain benefits, and that it is necessary to approve new support measures related to tax and contribution obligations, and that there are legislative processes underway related to the automatic issue of payment plans in installments, as well as the suspension of tax enforcement proceedings, the suspension between January 1 and March 31, 2021 of tax enforcement proceedings underway or to be initiated by the AT and the Social Security was approved.

During this suspension, the AT will be prevented from issuing guarantees, namely liens, and from offsetting the debtor’s claims resulting from the refund, ex-officio review, claim or judicial challenge of any tax act in the debts charged by the tax authorities.

The exceptional situation is also grounds for the suspension of the limitation and prescription periods for all processes and procedures within the scope of tax foreclosures underway or initiated during the period.

For the same period, installment plans for Social Security debts outside the scope of the enforcement proceedings were suspended, notwithstanding the fact that they may continue to be punctually fulfilled.

When a traffic accident occurs, it is important to record, at the scene of the accident, the identification details of the drivers, the vehicles involved, the insurance coverage (especially the policy number) and to identify the witnesses to the accident and their personal contacts.

If an agreement can be reached on how the accident occurred, drivers must fill out and sign an Official Accident Declaration (DAAA), where each driver is given a copy to give to their respective insurance company. If no agreement can be reached, each driver must fill out and sign their own DAAA form and give it to the other vehicle’s insurer. The official accident declaration can be filled out on paper or directly using the e-Segurnet app, which can be downloaded free of charge. Where possible, photographs of the damages and the accident site should be attached.

Within the scope of traffic accidents, the law includes several deadlines whose non-compliance may have consequences on the rights and duties between the injured parties and those civilly and criminally liable for the traffic accidents.

The accident must be reported to the insurer within 8 days from the date of the occurrence or from the date on which the insured became aware of it, under penalty of the insured being liable for damages. If they wish to file a criminal complaint, the injured party has a period of 6 months from the event and may file the corresponding civil suit within 3 years.

After becoming aware of an accident, the insurer has 2 working days to establish the first contact with the injured party and schedule the expert examinations. The insurer must then notify the policyholder or insured and the injured third party of its ruling on liability for the accident within a maximum of 30 working days from the last day of the deadline for first contact if there is only property damage (15 days, with a Official Accident Declaration) and 45 days from the date of the claim if there is personal injuries. These periods may be extended or suspended if the accident has occurred in exceptional weather conditions, if there has been a large number of accidents at the same time, and if fraud is suspected.

If the insurer assumes liability for damages arising from the accident, it must communicate its decision in writing, along with a reasonable settlement offer. If there are personal injuries, and there is no medical discharge report, or if the damage is not quantified, the settlement offer is provisional. If they decide not to assume liability, they must submit a written, reasoned justification for the refusal. Within 20 days of the claim, the insurer must inform the injured person whether it intends to carry out an examination to evaluate the personal injuries; or 60 days after the date of the accident if the injured person has not submitted a claim. The insurer must make the claimant’s medical file available within 10 days from the date the examination is received. The insurer has eight working days from the date of assumption of responsibility to carry out the payment.

According to article 940 of the Civil Code, donation is the contract under which a person, by free will and at the expense of their own assets, freely gives a thing or right, or assumes an obligation, for the benefit of another contracting party.

Unlike the sale to children or grandchildren, where parents and grandparents cannot sell to children or grandchildren if the other children or grandchildren do not accept the sale, the law, in the case of donation, does not provide for the need to obtain the consent of the descendants. Accordingly, ownership of the donated property is the consequence of this free disposal contract, as of the date it is concluded.

However, this transfer does not prevent the donee(s)-descendant(s) of the donor from having to return to the donor’s estate, for equitable distribution, the assets or values received as a donation, so that they may be included in the ascendant’s succession – this is called collation, an element of succession law based on the social significance attributed to donations made during the donor’s lifetime to presumptive legitimate heirs of the donor, considering them as nothing more than anticipations of the inheritance.

In other words, the law presumes that any donation made by parents during their lifetime to only one or some of their children is not intended to affect or harm the other children, harming them in relation to the beneficiaries of the donation. But that there was only an intention to help these children in a difficult moment of their lives, giving them a kind of advance payment of what they would inherit in the future, without affecting the duty of equality in this future sharing.

This conference (or duty of restitution) happens by imputing the donation value to the hereditary share (this value is the one the donated goods have at the date of the opening of succession), which is the rule; or by restituting the donated goods themselves, if there is an agreement among all heirs, which may lead to the reduction of the donation due to inofficiousness.

This will only be invalid if the act of donation expressly states that the donation was made according to the available share, i.e., based on the portion that can be freely disposed of. According to the available share means that the parents have exempted these assets from collation, intending to benefit a certain legitimate heir, and they are attributed to the available share of the author of the succession, without affecting its reduction due to inofficiousness.

In life or by will, parents can dispose of their own assets, if they do not affect the legitimate share, i.e., the share of assets that the administrator of the estate cannot dispose of, under penalty of such disposition being considered inofficious.

The domestic service contract, except in the case of fixed-term contracts, is not subject to special arrangements. This contract obliges someone, in exchange for a fee, to regularly provide another person, under their guidance and authority, with activities designed to meet the personal or specific needs of a household, or equivalent, and its members, namely meal preparation, laundry and clothing care, cleaning and housekeeping, supervision and assistance to children, the elderly and the sick, among others.

The employer is responsible for the registration of new workers and must notify the Social Security services of the admission of new workers by any written means or online.

The employer is also responsible for paying the contributions and dues of its employees. The employees’ contributions refer to the amount that the employer has deducted from their salary according to the applicable contribution rate. The contributions are calculated using the contribution rate established on the employee’s declared pay, whether this is conventional or actual pay.

The employer cannot enroll as an employee in their service people with family relationships, such as a spouse or person living with them in a de facto union for more than 2 years, a child, grandchild or adopted child, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepchild, father, mother, stepfather, stepmother or father-in-law and brother, sister or brother-in-law.

The salary of housekeeping workers can be paid partly in cash and partly in kind (accommodation and food, for example). In addition to the basic wage, Christmas and vacation pay must also be paid.

Like all other employees, housekeeping workers must be covered by occupational accident insurance. This insurance is mandatory, even if the worker has similar insurance at another residence where they provide services.

The employer is required annually to submit Model 10 through Portal das Finanças, declaring all income subject to tax and withholdings at the source. This communication must take place by January 31 of each year.

One of the private law restrictions on the right of property has to do with the planting of trees and bushes, aiming to prevent that the planting of trees and bushes cause harm to the owners of the neighboring buildings.

Article 1366, no. 1 of the Civil Code, which allows the planting of trees not excluded by no. 2 – eucalyptus, acacia, among others – up to the dividing line of the buildings, nevertheless gives the owner of the neighboring building the right to uproot and cut the roots that enter their land and the trunk or branches on it, if the owner of the trees, having been judicially or extrajudicially summoned to take these measures, does not do so within three days.

Accordingly, the owner of the invaded building cannot exercise this right without previously notifying the owner of the trees, since article 1366, no. 1 of the Civil Code only allows its exercise after the latter has previously requested the owner of the trees to take such action, and the latter has not done so within three days.

The power conferred to the owner of the neighboring building legitimizes the recourse to the self-protection right of their property, after a request has been made to the owner of the trees and the latter has not fulfilled his duty to prevent them from causing damage to the neighboring building.

But there are cases in which the owner of the building where the roots are intruding is unable to cut them down, either because the trees are next to walls or to urban buildings, in which the infiltration of the roots can cause damage, and they cannot comply with article 1366, no. 1 of the Civil Code. In these situations, the courts have admitted that the injured owner may compel the owner of the trees to perform the steps necessary to prevent such damage, requiring the cutting of the roots or trees if this is necessary to safeguard their interests.

The owner of a tree or shrub adjoining or bordering another person’s building may require the owner of the building to allow them to pick the fruit that cannot be picked by the former; but they are liable for any damage the picking may cause.

Regarding alimony between former spouses, after divorce or legal separation of people and goods, the general rule dictates that each spouse must provide for their own livelihood after divorce (article 2016, no. 1 of the Civil Code).

Together with the spouse, the ex-spouse is part of the first class of obligors. Therefore, only in their absence or if it is impossible for them to provide alimony will the persons of the subsequent class be called (therefore, the descendants), and so on (cf. articles 2009 and 2013, no. 2 of the Civil Code).

But any of them may request alimony from the other, provided it is shown that they are in a state of need and that the person giving the alimony is able to do so (article 2004 of the Civil Code).

This alimony obligation is exceptional and temporary in nature, as its purpose is to help the ex-spouse who needs alimony to meet basic needs, giving them a minimum of conditions that allow them, in the initial stages after the divorce, to readjust their lives. This obligation is due during the period necessary for the spouse to adapt to their new life, serving as support for the recovery of economic independence.

The establishment of the alimony amount depends on article 2016-A of the Civil Code, which lists several circumstances to define the alimony obligation, including the length of the marriage, the collaboration that the former spouse in need of alimony provided to the couple’s economy, their state of health, age, professional qualifications and employment prospects, the economic capacity according to their income, the reorganization of family life, among others.

The condition of being divorced, where the former spouse is the first to be appealed to for alimony, does not entail a right to alimony that is more stringent than that of other people who have never been married. In other words, article 2016-A of the Civil Code does not restrict the right of alimony to divorced people, but only presents criteria for the alimony amount, to be fixed upon verification of the assumptions of the right to alimony.

Regarding the means, alimony shall be given in monthly cash payments, unless there is an agreement or legal provision to the contrary, or if there are reasons that justify exceptional measures; and if the person obliged to provide alimony shows that they cannot provide it as a pension, but only in their home and companionship, then it may be decreed (article 2005 of the Civil Code).

Alimony becomes due from the time the action is filed, or when it is fixed by the court or by agreement, from the time the debtor is in arrears (article 2006 of the Civil Code).