Selling or buying an inherited home in Puerto Rico

If the person left a will, the will says who inherits. If there is no will, or it is not valid, a declaratoria de herederos is done.

The declaratoria is asked of the court in the town where the person lived or where the property is, and the judge can often decide it from the papers, without a hearing. A notary can also do it, as long as nobody objects and the matter is not already in court. If a notary does it and one of the heirs is a minor, the prosecutor is notified and has 30 days to object.

You usually need the death certificate, a certificate that no will was recorded, the heirs' birth certificates and, if the person was married, the marriage certificate.

A will may not cover property bought after it was signed. For that property a declaratoria may also be needed.

For deaths since January 1, 2018 there is no longer an estate tax, but the heirs must file an informative estate return within 12 months of the death.

Once the return is filed, the tax office issues the release (relevo) if the person owed no taxes. That release is needed to record the house in the heirs' names and to sell or refinance it.

For deaths before 2018 the rules are different.

With the declaratoria or the will and the release, a notary prepares the documents to record the house in the heirs' names in the public property registry.

Under the 2020 Civil Code (for deaths since November 28, 2020), the surviving spouse inherits a share in full ownership equal to the children's, and can ask to keep the family home when the estate is divided. Earlier deaths follow the 1930 code.

The heirs answer for the person's debts only up to the value of what they receive.

To sell the whole house all the heirs must sign, in person or through a power of attorney (poder). If one does not agree, any of them can ask the court to divide the estate, and the court can order a sale.

If an heir won't say whether they accept the inheritance, 30 days after the death anyone with an interest can ask the court to give them a deadline. If they don't answer, it counts as accepted.

An heir who lives outside Puerto Rico can sign through a power of attorney. Ask the notary how it must be prepared.

In 2026 there are bills in the Legislature about heirs who can't be found and about the forced sale of the family home. Until they pass, they change nothing.

• All the heirs sign, in person or through a valid power of attorney.
• The declaratoria de herederos, or the will with the certificate from the wills registry.
• The release from the tax office.
• A title study for mortgages, liens and other charges.
• The property-tax debt.
• The date of death, because it decides which civil code applies.

Buying only one heir's share makes you a co-owner with the others, and you can be pulled into a case to divide the property.

On the Investor plan, Lead Lists shows inherited homes ranked by how likely they are to sell, with who owns them now.