Inheritance Law

At NPC we can advise and assist you throughout the entire hereditary process. In particular, we can assist in the preparation of wills, obtain the declaration of heirs, complete the informative return of the deceased assets and obtain the release from the treasury, register hereditary rights with the property registrar, prepare the partitional notebook and complete the corresponding notarial deeds to adjudicate hereditary participation and liquidate the hereditary community of the assets of the deceased. In addition, we can assist in the resolution of disputes between heirs, either through out-of-court settlements or court litigation.

The Civil Code of Puerto Rico of 2020 provides that succession due to death is the transmission of the rights and obligations of the deceased that are not extinguished by his death. Succession may be testamentary, intestate or mixed. It is called a testamentary succession when a person prepared a will indicating who will be his heirs and how he wanted to distribute his assets when he died. It is called intestate succession when no will was prepared by the deceased. The Civil Code also provides who has the right to inherit, how it is inherited and the requirements and scope of a will.

If a person dies and does not leave a valid will indicating who their heirs will be, it is necessary to complete a legal process to obtain a declaration of heirs. The first ones called to inherit as heirs will be the descendants and the surviving spouse and, if these do not exist, then their ascendants inherit. Also, the estate must submit an informative declaration of the deceased assets with the Puerto Rico Department of Treasury to obtain a release on tax debts and thus be able to request disbursements of bank accounts and register the hereditary rights in any real estate property that belonged to the deceased.