WE DEFEND THOSE WHO BUILD. WE PROTECT WHAT MATTERS.
EVERY CASE IS TREATED AS IF IT WERE THE ONLY ONE.
Three decades of legal experience dedicated to defending our clients' interests.
DEBT RECOVERY AND
ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS
Legal support in debt collection, negotiation with debtors, injunctions, enforcement actions, and defence in enforcement proceedings, focusing on speed, legal certainty, and effective recovery of the amount owed.
Need legal support?
Get in touch with our team for clear, rigorous legal support tailored to your case.
(National landline call)
The Experience Behind Our Practice
Over 30 Years of Consolidated Experience
With more than three decades of legal practice, we combine strong legal knowledge, extensive practical experience, and a mature understanding of the challenges faced by businesses, individuals, and investors.
Rigorous Legal Expertise with Close Client Support
Every case is handled with attention to detail, technical precision, and strategic focus, ensuring personalized and close support throughout every stage of the process.
International Presence and Coordinated Legal Assistance
Through a network of strategic partnerships across Portuguese-speaking and European markets, the firm provides coordinated legal support for both national and international matters and operations.
Debt Recovery and Enforcement Proceedings
Debt recovery and enforcement is an essential area of law for businesses, entrepreneurs, and creditors who need to respond to non-payment, recover sums owed, and protect their cash flow and financial stability. At Armandino Lopes Advogados, we provide legal advice in debt recovery and enforcement to companies, suppliers, service providers, investors, and individuals, supporting them through every stage of the collection process, from the initial review of the debt and the available documentation through negotiation, payment orders, enforcement proceedings, and everything that follows.
Portuguese law provides distinct tools for the enforced collection of debts, including the payment order (injunção), which can lead to an enforceable title through a simplified procedure, and enforcement proceedings, designed to satisfy the obligation by force, in particular through the attachment and sale of assets.
If you are looking for legal support in debt recovery and enforcement, our team offers careful guidance in situations involving breach of contract, late invoice payments, commercial debts, sums owed for services rendered or goods supplied, rent arrears, acknowledgements of debt, enforceable titles, and enforcement proceedings already under way. In many cases, whether or not a debt is recovered comes down to the speed of the response, the right choice of legal route, the strength of the documentation, and the ability to set out an effective strategy from the very start.
Before turning to the courts, there can also be value in early enquiry and pressure mechanisms, such as the pre-enforcement extrajudicial procedure (PEPEX), which was designed precisely to allow the creditor to gather information and make a more informed decision about whether to bring enforcement proceedings.
Our work in this area covers the judicial and out-of-court recovery of debts, the analysis of contracts and titles, formal demands, negotiation with debtors, payment orders, enforcement proceedings, attachments, oppositions to enforcement, oppositions to attachment, the lodging of claims, and the support of creditors in cases involving the debtor's insolvency or financial crisis.
Enforcement in Portugal often involves the work of an enforcement agent, the carrying out of asset investigations, and, where appropriate, the attachment and subsequent enforced sale of assets to satisfy the debt. For this reason, well-prepared legal work from the earliest stages is decisive in improving the chances of recovery and in cutting down on wasted time, unnecessary costs, and the risk of failure.
As a law firm based in Guimarães with established experience in commercial, contractual, property, tax, and litigation matters, we provide legal advice in debt recovery and enforcement with a focus on protecting the creditor, on the effectiveness of the means used, and on defending the financial interests at stake. We also support debtors who need to respond to unjustified enforcement, excessive attachments, an unfounded title, procedural irregularities, or legally questionable collection efforts.
We provide close, technically rigorous support, whether on the collection side or in defending against enforcement.
Situations where legal support is essential
Overdue, unpaid invoices
When there are outstanding sums owed for goods supplied or services rendered, the available documentation and the best route to collection need to be assessed quickly.
Breach of commercial contracts
Failure to pay sums due under a commercial contract may justify a formal demand, negotiation, a payment order, or enforcement proceedings.
Recovering debts from clients in default
Whenever a debtor delays or avoids payment, the legal framing of the default, the proof of the debt, and the collection strategy become decisive.
Formal demands and out-of-court collection
Before going to court, it can be important to put the default in writing, press for payment, and lay the legal groundwork for the next stage.
Payment orders (injunção)
Where the debt qualifies for this procedure, the payment order can be a simplified route to obtaining an enforceable title.
PEPEX (pre-enforcement extrajudicial procedure)
This procedure can be useful for gathering information and assessing in advance whether it makes sense to bring enforcement proceedings.
Enforcement proceedings
Where an enforceable title exists and the debtor does not pay voluntarily, it may be necessary to bring enforcement proceedings to collect by force.
Attachment of property, vehicles, or other assets
Enforced collection can target a range of the debtor's assets, and it is essential to keep an eye on the legality, proportionality, and proper handling of the attachment.
Lodging of claims
In certain proceedings, including insolvency and enforcement, it may be necessary to lodge a claim in order to safeguard the creditor's position.
Defense of the party facing enforcement
Anyone on the receiving end of enforcement may also need legal support to challenge the debt, the procedure, or the steps taken against their assets.
In-Person or Online Legal Support
Do you need legal support?
Schedule a consultation with our firm and receive clear, professional guidance tailored to your case.
About Us
More Than Three Decades of Strategic Legal Practice
Armandino Lopes Advogados is a law firm headquartered in Guimarães, with offices in Porto and Maputo, founded in 1995. With more than three decades of activity, the firm combines consolidated legal experience with an international outlook, advising businesses, private clients, and investors in Portugal and across Portuguese-speaking markets.
Our practice covers Civil, Tax, Administrative, Commercial, Employment, Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring, Family, and Foreign Investment, with particular expertise in tax litigation and the defense of companies before the Tax Authorities and Social Security.
Through a network of partnerships with law firms in Lisbon, Vigo, Madrid, Paris, Luanda, São Paulo, Macau, Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago, we provide our clients with coordinated legal assistance across the markets where they operate or intend to invest.
This international positioning is further strengthened through collaboration agreements with professors and academics from Universidade Portucalense, the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, and the Catholic University of Porto, maintaining a close connection to academia and leading legal scholarship.
Rigor, proximity, and results. That is what defines us.
0
+
Years of Experience
0
+
Pratice Areas
0
Offices and Partnerships
0
+
Sectors of Activity
A Rigorous Legal Approach, From Assessment to Representation
1.
Assessment
We begin by understanding the facts, reviewing the documentation, and identifying legal risks, relevant deadlines, and the full scope of the situation.
2.
Strategy
We define the most appropriate approach for the case, based on the client’s objectives, the applicable legal framework, and the best way to protect their interests.
3.
Action
We handle the matter with technical rigor, whether through negotiation, contract drafting, document regularization, dealings with public authorities, or litigation proceedings.
4.
Ongoing Support
We keep the client informed and supported throughout every stage of the process, with close communication, clarity, and a focus on achieving a legally sound solution.
In-Person or Online Legal Support
Rigor, experience and confidentiality
Schedule a consultation with our firm and receive clear, professional guidance tailored to your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is debt recovery?
ï‚·It is the set of legal and negotiation tools used to obtain payment of a sum owed, whether out of court or through the courts and enforcement.
What are enforcement proceedings?
They are the court proceedings designed to give effect to an obligation by force, which may involve the payment of a specific sum, the delivery of a specific good/service, or the performance of a specific act. In debt collection, it is the route used to obtain payment by force where there is an enforceable title.
What are enforcement proceedings for?
They allow the creditor to obtain, by force, the satisfaction of their right when the debtor does not pay voluntarily, with tools such as attachment and enforced sale available along the way.
Who can help with debt recovery and enforcement matters?
A lawyer experienced in litigation, contracts, judicial collection, and enforcement can support both creditors and those facing enforcement with the analysis of the debt, the choice of procedure, the handling of the enforcement, and the defense of their interests. Armandino Lopes Advogados provides legal advice in this area with a focus on the effectiveness of collection, legal security, and the protection of assets.