Considerations about the institute of compensation for affective abandonment:

Preservation of the best interest of the offspring or monetization of affection?

Abstract

This article consists of a critical analysis regarding the supposed obligation of parents to compensate their children in the face of possible emotional abandonment caused by them. The clash between doctrinal and jurisprudential understandings proves to be very relevant, given the growing number of legal actions discussing the aforementioned topic, as well as considering the existence of numerous divergences regarding the possibility of arbitrating compensation in the face of emotional abandonment. Faced with such a scenario, it is necessary to examine both the doctrinal understanding that attributes to this compensation the indispensable character for preserving the best interests of the offspring, abandoned by the parent, and the position that postulates the relativization of the institute, under the argument that the supposed obligation of compensating represents the commodification and capitalization of affectivity. In the meantime, this study aims to examine the legal possibility of compensation due to emotional abandonment, as well as discussing the legal nature of affection and, therefore, seeks to provide opportunities for debate about its possible enforceability in the legal field. Furthermore, it also explores the intersection of this theme with the premises of the alimony obligation, in order to deliberate on the need for compensation for emotional abandonment in relation to the already existing duty to provide alimony. Therefore, the proposed analysis intends to expose and explain the divergent currents, delve deeper into specific cases and answer the following question: does the consolidation of compensation for emotional abandonment present an effective basis considering the current provisions of the Brazilian legal system?

Keywords: Affectivity. Affective abandonment. Civil responsability. Indemnity.