Who may be a heir according to the laws of Puerto Rico?

According to the laws of Puerto Rico, a person becomes a heir if he (she) is designated as such in a Will or, if there is no Will, because the law so specifies.

When there is a Will, the heirs will be those so designated in it, provided the Will is valid according to the laws of Puerto Rico. Although the Principal has almost unlimited freedom to dispose of his assets in his Will, such freedom is not absolute because there is minimum amount reserved for the children. The remainder may be transferred freely to anybody, including the children if the Principal so desires. When there are no children, the obligation is to transfer part of the assets to the parents of the Principal and the rest is free to transfer to anybody.

In the case when there is no Will, the Estate shall be divided and distributed according to certain basic rules specified by the Laws of Puerto Rico. Said laws basically say that the whole of the Estate shall go to the closest relatives. Who is a closer relative and who is not, is a matter specified by the law. The basic rules to determine who is a closer relative are as follows:

1. In the First Group are the children of the Principal and in some circumstances other descendents.

2. In the Second Group are the parents of the Principal and under some circumstances, other ascendants of the Principal.

3. In the Third Group are the brothers and sisters of the Principal, and the nephews and nieces.

4. In the Fourth Group is the widow or the widower.

5. In the Fifth Group are other relatives of the Principal.

6. In the Sixth and last Group is the Government of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

Those relatives located at the highest level, receive all the Estate and those located at lower levels get nothing. That is, if there are relatives in the First Group (children and other descendents), those relatives in the Second Group and lower groups receive nothing. Another example, if there are no relatives in the First Group nor in the Second Group, all the Estate goes to those relatives in the Third Group, and nothing goes to those relatives in the Fourth and subsequent Groups. And so on.

It is very important to clarify that in Puerto Rico, a married person only transfer half of the assets that were possessed by him (her) and his wife (her husband) before the death. That is so because the other half belongs to the widow (widower) according to the laws governing community property in Puerto Rico. So when we speak here about the Estate of a Principal, if he (she) was married, we are referring only to that half of the properties that were his (hers), before death.