In short
Once the cut-off is made, the liquidation is organised in two columns and the Code enumerates them precisely. Article 534 says what enters the assets. First, the common and ganancial goods existing at the moment of dissolution. Second, the updated amount of the value the goods had when alienated by illegal or fraudulent acts or business, if they have not been recovered: what improperly left returns to the account even though the good is gone. And third, the updated amount of the sums paid by the society that are the charge of one spouse alone and, in general, those constituting credits of the society against that spouse. Article 535 does the same with liabilities. First, the pending debts charged to the society. Second, the updated amount of the value of the privative movable goods when their restitution must be made in cash because they were spent in the society’s interest; and the same rule applies to the deterioration produced in those goods by their use for the society’s benefit. There comes the sentence that surprises many and is worth reading literally: those suffered in immovable goods shall not be payable in any case. That is, if one spouse’s privative house wore down from family use, that wear is not paid. And third, the updated amount of the sums which, having been paid by one spouse alone, are the society’s charge and, in general, those constituting credits of the spouses against the society. Both articles repeat the expression updated amount three times, and the Code does not define it: it gives no index, no rate and no reference date. That absence is flagged here and not filled in.
What is it?
They are Articles 534 and 535 of the Civil Code of 2020: the assets and liabilities composing the inventory by which the sociedad de gananciales is liquidated.
Who can do it?
Married people under the sociedad de gananciales whose society has dissolved and must assemble the liquidation inventory.
Requirements
- The assets comprise the common and ganancial goods existing at the moment of dissolution.Verified against the official source
- Also the updated amount of the value goods had when alienated by illegal or fraudulent acts or business, if not recovered.Verified against the official source
- Also the updated amount of the sums paid by the society that are the charge of one spouse alone.Verified against the official source
- The liabilities comprise the pending debts charged to the society.Verified against the official source
- Also the updated amount of the value of privative movables when their restitution must be made in cash, having been spent in the society’s interest.Verified against the official source
- The same rule applies to the deterioration produced in those movables by their use for the society’s benefit.Verified against the official source
- Deterioration suffered in immovable goods shall not be payable in any case.Verified against the official source
- The liabilities also include the updated amount paid by one spouse alone that is the society’s charge, and in general the spouses’ credits against it.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Start from what exists
The assets record the common and ganancial goods existing at the moment of dissolution.
Step 2: Add what improperly left
The updated amount of the value alienated by illegal or fraudulent acts, if not recovered.
Step 3: Add what the society paid for one alone
They are credits of the society against that spouse and enter the assets.
Step 4: On the other side, the pending debts
The liabilities open with the pending debts charged to the society.
Step 5: And what each spouse put in from their own
Privative movables spent in the society’s interest and what one paid that was a common charge.
Step 6: Watch the deterioration of immovables
The Code says those suffered in immovable goods shall not be payable in any case.
Where to do it
These two articles use the expression updated amount three times and do not define it: they name no index, fix no rate and give no reference date for the updating. They do not say who declares an act or business illegal or fraudulent, or before which forum it is established. They do not say who values the goods, the expenditure or the deterioration, or by what method. They fix no term to assemble the inventory nor describe its form. And they publish no tariff. What happens next with that inventory — paying the debts, the recompenses and the division — lives in the following articles and this site covers them separately. None of those gaps is filled here.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
Two rules in these articles genuinely change the numbers. The first is on the asset side and protects the spouse who suspects the goods were emptied out early: the updated amount of the value the goods had when alienated by illegal or fraudulent acts or business enters the assets if those goods have not been recovered. Put another way, the good that is gone still counts. What the Code does not say is who declares the act illegal or fraudulent or before which forum, so that prior step is not described here. The second is on the liability side and cuts the other way. The article credits the updated amount of the value of privative movables spent in the society’s interest, and applies the same rule to the deterioration produced in those movables by their use for the society’s benefit. But it then closes the door with an unqualified sentence: those suffered in immovable goods shall not be payable in any case. That is, whoever contributed their privative house for the family to live in cannot claim the immovable’s wear in the liquidation. That wear should not be confused with improvements: improvements made with common funds have their own rule in another article of the same chapter. And there is an expression running through both articles that decides a great deal of money: updated amount. It appears three times and the Code does not define it. There is no index, no rate and no reference date in the text. It is better to know that calculation is unresolved in the law than to accept a figure with no basis. MiPRFácil gives no legal, financial or appraisal advice.
Common mistakes
- Writing off a fraudulently alienated good: its updated amount enters the assets if not recovered.
- Believing the wear of the privative house is credited: the Code excludes it in every case.
- Confusing an immovable’s deterioration with improvements made with common funds, which have another rule.
- Forgetting that what the society paid for one spouse’s charges is its credit and enters the assets.
- Forgetting to claim what one paid out of pocket for common charges: it is a credit against the society.
- Thinking the value to use is nominal: the Code speaks three times of an updated amount.
- Looking in the Code for which index or rate applies to that updating: it does not say.
- Assembling the inventory with today’s values when the cut-off is the date of dissolution.
Frequently asked questions
They sold goods before liquidating. Are they lost?
If the alienation was by illegal or fraudulent acts or business and they were not recovered, their updated amount enters the assets.
My privative house wore down with the family. Is it credited?
No. Article 535 says deterioration suffered in immovable goods shall not be payable in any case.
I paid a society charge from my own. Do I recover it?
The liabilities include the updated amount paid by one spouse alone that is the society’s charge.
What is the updated amount?
The Code repeats it three times and does not define it: it names no index, rate or reference date.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 13, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
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Only two causes end the community property régime, and separating in fact is not one
Article 532 of the Civil Code of 2020 ends the sociedad de gananciales by the marriage’s dissolution or nullity, or by agreeing a different economic régime.
When liquidating the community, support debts are paid before all others
Article 536 of the Civil Code of 2020 orders the society’s debts paid once the inventory is finished, and gives preference to support debts.
What is divided by half is the remainder, not the gross of the common goods
Article 539 of the Civil Code of 2020 divides by half the remainder left in the inventoried estate after all the preceding deductions.
Paying for separate property with common money does not make it common: it creates a credit
Article 511 of the Civil Code of 2020 keeps the privative character even if paid with common funds, and gives the society a credit for the value paid.
What you inherit or are given during the marriage is yours and does not enter the community
Article 509 of the Civil Code of 2020 makes gratuitously acquired goods separate property during the society, whether by donation, legacy or inheritance.
Divorced but not liquidated: the post-ganancial community
Half and half until it is liquidated, with a credit for the community if one uses common money to buy something.