Who may inherit and the six causes that forfeit an inheritance

They are Articles 1554 to 1558 of the Civil Code of 2020: who has capacity to inherit, the six causes of unworthiness, when it is qualified and who may invoke it.

Whoever is called to an inheritance in Puerto Rico, and whoever believes another person called should not receive it because of their conduct toward the decedent.

• The person born or conceived at the moment the succession is opened has successory capacity.Verified against the official source
• The causes of unworthiness are six and are in Article 1556.Verified against the official source
• The qualification of unworthiness is attended to at the moment of the delación.Verified against the official source
• Only the persons favoured by the declaration of unworthiness may invoke it.Verified against the official source

• The judgment of conviction, for the two causes that require it: the attempt against life and the false accusation or denunciation.
• The administrative or judicial order that imposed the obligation to support the decedent, for the cause in paragraph (d).
• The will, where what is alleged is inducement, prevention, destruction, concealment or alteration.

1. 1

   Step 1: Who may inherit: the natural person

   Article 1554: the person born or conceived at the moment the succession is opened has successory capacity. “Or conceived” is in the text.

2. 2

   Step 2: Who may inherit: the juridical person

   Article 1555, first paragraph: the one that exists at the moment the succession is opened.

3. 3

   Step 3: An entity that does not yet exist

   Second paragraph of 1555: the testator may create or order the creation of a juridical person so that it is constituted after the opening. It has capacity from when it has personality, but the effects of its acceptance are retroactive to the moment of the delación.

4. 4

   Step 4: Cause (a): abandonment or mistreatment

   Unworthy is the person who abandons or physically or psychologically mistreats the decedent. This cause requires no criminal conviction.

5. 5

   Step 5: Cause (b): attempting against life, with a conviction

   The person convicted of having attempted against the life of the decedent, their spouse, their descendants or ascendants, the executor, or another called to the inheritance whose death favours the unworthy one in the succession. Here the Code demands a conviction.

6. 6

   Step 6: Cause (c): false denunciation, with a conviction

   The person convicted of falsely accusing or denouncing the decedent of committing an offence that carries a serious penalty. It also demands a conviction. The Code does not define here what a serious penalty is.

7. 7

   Step 7: Cause (d): failing to support the decedent

   The person who fails for three consecutive or six alternate months to comply with the obligation, imposed administratively or judicially, to support the decedent. Note the two counts: three in a row or six scattered.

8. 8

   Step 8: Cause (e): bending the testator’s will

   The person who, by deceit, intimidation, fraud or violence induces or prevents the decedent from granting, revoking or modifying their will; or the one who, knowing these facts, uses them for their benefit. The second half reaches whoever did nothing but took advantage knowingly.

9. 9

   Step 9: Cause (f): destroying, hiding or altering the will

   The person who destroys, hides or alters the decedent’s will. Hiding is enough: it need not be destroyed.

10. 10

    Step 10: When it is measured

    Article 1557: the qualification of unworthiness is attended to at the moment of the delación. The Code uses that word here without defining it, and this guide does not define it for it.

11. 11

    Step 11: Who may invoke it

    Article 1558: only the persons favoured by the declaration of unworthiness. It is not an action open to anyone.

12. 12

    Step 12: What the unworthy person loses

    The same article: the effects are retroactive to the moment of the delación, and the declared unworthiness deprives the person of the inheritance or the legacy and, where applicable, of the condition of forced heir. That last mention matters: it reaches even someone who would have a forced share.

13. 13

    Step 13: What this chapter does not settle here

    It does not say before whom or how the declaration is requested, does not define delación or serious penalty, and does not say what happens to the excluded person’s share. The duty to restore, the rehabilitation of the unworthy person and the four-year lapse are in Articles 1559 to 1561, with their own guide on this site.

These articles describe no procedure before any agency: they fix who may inherit and why that right is lost. The Code does not say in these five articles before whom the declaration of unworthiness is requested, and this guide does not invent it.

• Believing every cause of unworthiness requires a criminal conviction: only two of the six do.
• Thinking a baby conceived but unborn when the decedent dies is left out: Article 1554 says “born or conceived”.
• Assuming anyone may request the declaration of unworthiness: only whoever is favoured by it.
• Counting only consecutive months in the support cause: it is three consecutive or six alternate.
• Believing hiding the will does not count if it was not destroyed: paragraph (f) names destroying, hiding or altering.
• Thinking whoever merely took advantage of another’s coercion is safe: paragraph (e) reaches whoever, knowing the facts, uses them for their benefit.
• Assuming a forced heir cannot be excluded: Article 1558 also strips the condition of forced heir.
• Measuring unworthiness at the moment of death: Article 1557 qualifies it at the moment of the delación.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov