Frequently Asked Questions

The next step in this scenario is to see if the estate of the person that passed, known in the U.S. as decedent and in Puerto Rico as "causante," has been probated (or resolved/distributed) or needs to be probated. The probate process generally means the estate has been distributed and no longer exists. This could be done via a Last Will and Testament by following the instructions set out there, usually with the help of a notary attorney in Puerto Rico, or via a court process that oversees the estate until it is ultimately settled and distributed. Several agencies must also be involved in fully settling an estate, including the taxing authority in Puerto Rico, known as "Hacienda." If multiple people were heirs or were interested in the estate, and they have passed away, then their estate must also be probated. Before you can sell a property that belonged to someone who passed away, their estate needs to be probated, accounted for, and cleared in a legal process in Puerto Rico.

Once the probate process is done for each owner who passed away, you can sell.

The short answer is no. Quit claim deeds and warranty deeds are legal documents used to transfer property in many states in the continental U.S. or the common law system. Puerto Rico does not subscribe to this type of procedure, so quit claim deeds are ineffective for transferring property on the island.

To transfer property in Puerto Rico, you must follow Puerto Rico law, even when drafting your will in the state where you live. Many times, a special document drafted by a notary attorney in Puerto Rico is required. In Puerto Rico, all notaries must be lawyers. They draft a special document called an "escritura," which is registered in a Puerto Rico Property Registry. The "escritura" must meet Puerto Rico Notary Law requirements to register in the Property Registry properly.

How do I find an experienced and professional attorney who understands my needs and provides the proper guidance? What if I live in Connecticut, Florida, or New York and have family and property in Puerto Rico? Get a referral from a friend, look online, but make sure they practice in the area you need. Make sure they discuss total prices upfront and give you a written document outlining how the money will be spent, how they invoice, and what services they will perform. Watch out for low retainers. Sometimes, they will ask you for $500 dollars or a similar amount for a case. Then, they will ask for more as the case develops. This continues until you pay an amount higher than what you discussed. Make sure that they talk to you about complicating factors in the case. Many lawyers in Puerto Rico will not talk about this until later. They should be transparent. Legal work in Puerto Rico is costly, no matter what anyone says. There is a lot of legwork involved, and things take time.

Our firm understands this and will have an honest conversation about the case and its prospects. We will discuss the ins and outs of the case as well as the complicating factors that we anticipate in the case. You will get professional and thoughtful advice from the attorney working with you throughout the case, an attorney who has empathy and will work creatively to solve your Inheritance, Probate, Real Estate, or Divorce matter.

What do I do if I want to sell an inherited property? How do I know if my deceased parent had a Will? How do I start the probate process in Puerto Rico? The legal system in Puerto Rico works at a different pace than in many U.S. jurisdictions. Sometimes, it takes more than the time you expect to get an answer from an agency or the courts. Most of the time, agencies only deal directly with lawyers. Our team of experienced legal representatives will work with you in every stage of the process. We will be on top of the agency or court to inform them that this case needs to be moved forward. Although we cannot control the agency's timeline or predict a court's outcome, we strive to be on top of the process at all times and work with the highest level of diligence in our representation to move the case along. Our straightforward and cost-efficient approach helps you avoid unnecessary procedural delays, saving time, stress, and money.

If you are a Puerto Rican living in the United States and looking for legal advice, support, and representation from Puerto Rico lawyers with world-class experience and knowledge yet an approachable and responsive style, you have come to the right place. Contact us right away for a consultation. We are the Inheritance law and Estate management legal team you can fully trust.

If you have been served with papers in Puerto Rico (with a lawsuit to start the dissolution of marriage in Puerto Rico), you must take a lot of care in examining your next steps. For some people, it won't be a problem to get divorced in Puerto Rico, but for others, being served in Puerto Rico with a divorce lawsuit can be very problematic. Puerto Rico follows a very different legal system. As explained above, Puerto Rico follows the civil jurisdiction laws from the Spanish tradition, which makes it very different from many states in the United States. If you answer, you accept the rules for Divorce in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico's rules differ regarding marital property debts, alimony, and child support. If you answer without considering the technical factors involved in multiple jurisdiction cases, or if you have a Puerto Rico lawyer who does not have experience with other states in the United States, then you could be forgoing a lot of rights that you are entitled to specially, if you live outside of Puerto Rico or if there is property outside of Puerto Rico. That is why it is essential to have a Puerto Rico lawyer who knows the legal systems of the United States and Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico follows the conjugal partnership or “sociedad de bienes gananciales” principal. Everything acquired in marriage belongs to a quasi-separate entity that does not have a comparable entity in the U.S. common law system but can, at times, resemble a family partnership or limited liability company as it is commonly known in many states. Everything that the spouses acquired during the marriage, including assets and liabilities, is brought into the same pot or the marital partnership estate. The rules are very technical, but spouses generally have equal rights to distribute these assets and liabilities and manage and enjoy the same. In many cases, the fact that a property or an asset is in one spouse's name is irrelevant in Puerto Rico as long as it was acquired during the marriage. A party that sells an asset that belongs to a marital partnership has severe consequences in Puerto Rico and can get into a lot of trouble if they do so without the other spouse's consent. In the United States, this isn't the case. A spouse can do business or sell assets in their name without much concern about getting another spouse's consent. As you can see, very technical issues must be analyzed before answering a lawsuit for Divorce in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico also has very different rules regarding child custody. Puerto Rico doesn't follow the general rules that apply in most states in the United States. They have their own rule, which loosely follows federal law but is far removed from the specific guidelines included in the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act or UCCJEA. The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, or UCCJEA, has a set of guidelines and procedures that streamline how child custody cases are seen in two different courts or jurisdictions. They establish priorities of who has the right to know the case first, what happens when two competing child custody cases are filed, and how communication should flow between the courts trying to decide which one has jurisdiction or power to see a case involving the child custody issues. Because Puerto Rico does not follow the UCCJEA, cases involving custody of children are not streamlined, can often have unpredictable outcomes, and can clash with rules and laws from other states. For this reason, it is essential to consult a lawyer who understands the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act or UCCJEA and Puerto Rico child custody laws. In many cases, as soon as there is an issue with one parent or spouse moving to Puerto Rico, you should consult us to devise a plan to protect your and your children's rights.