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Not answering is not accepting, except in the three cases the Code lists

Last reviewed: September 12, 2026 — VerifiedPoder Judicial

In short

Chapter I of Title IV opens with the definitions that hold up everything else. Article 263 calls juridical facts those producing the acquisition, modification or extinction of rights, and makes clear they may occur without anyone acting or by a person’s will. Article 264 names the second: if the fact takes place by the acting of one or more persons, it is called a juridical act, and those acts are voluntary when externalised and performed with discernment, intention and freedom — three ingredients, and the article defines none of them — and involuntary when they lack those characteristics. Article 265 warns of something worth keeping in view: both voluntary and involuntary acts produce the effects the law attributes to them, so calling an act involuntary does not erase its consequences. Article 266 establishes a presumption: minors and, in the Code’s own wording, mentally disabled persons are presumed incapable of executing juridical acts, unless the law provides otherwise. And Article 267 is the one that settles the most everyday arguments. It says the manifestation of will must be express; that a tacit one is effective only by unequivocal signs, must fall on a determined object and be made in a habitual context; and that silence or inaction do not constitute a manifestation of will, save three exceptions: when the law provides otherwise, when the parties agreed it, or when the prior dealings between them seek to assign silence the value of assent.

External link

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What is it?

They are Articles 263 to 267 of the Civil Code of 2020: what a juridical act is, when it is voluntary, who is presumed incapable, and when silence says something.

Who can do it?

Anyone told they accepted something by not answering, or that they signed or acted without meaning to.

Requirements

Documents you need

Cost

Check the current cost with the official agency.

Step by step

  1. Step 1: Start from the rule

    Article 267: silence or inaction do not constitute a manifestation of will.

  2. Step 2: Look for the legal exception

    The first exception is a law providing otherwise for that particular case.

  3. Step 3: See whether they agreed it

    The second is the parties’ agreement: they may stipulate that staying quiet means accepting.

  4. Step 4: Review the prior dealings

    The third is prior dealings seeking to assign silence the value of assent.

  5. Step 5: With no words, demand the three conditions

    A tacit manifestation demands unequivocal signs, a determined object and a habitual context.

  6. Step 6: Check who acted

    Article 266: minors and, in the Code’s wording, mentally disabled persons are presumed incapable, unless a law says otherwise.

  7. Step 7: Do not count on calling it involuntary

    Article 265: involuntary acts also produce the effects the law attributes to them.

Where to do it

These five articles describe no procedure before any agency. The Code does not define here what the discernment, intention and freedom mentioned in Article 264 require. It does not say at what age one stops being a minor, nor what the expression mentally disabled persons used in Article 266 means, nor who determines it; this guide quotes that expression as published. It does not say what makes a sign unequivocal, an object determined, or a context habitual. And it does not say how many prior dealings are needed before silence starts to mean yes. There is also a detail of the text worth pointing out: Article 267 appears in the OGP compilation without its 31 L.P.R.A. citation, while the four preceding articles carry theirs. That number is not guessed here.

How long it takes

Check the current processing time with the official agency.

What to do if something goes wrong

If you are being told you accepted something by not answering, the starting point is that the Code says the opposite: silence or inaction do not constitute a manifestation of will. That holds for the letter you did not answer, the email you did not open and the call you did not return. But the rule has three doors, and it is worth checking them before relaxing. The first is a law saying otherwise for that case. The second is that they agreed it: if the contract you signed says that failing to answer within so many days counts as acceptance, the article allows it. The third is the quietest of the three and the most surprising: that the prior dealings between the parties seek to assign silence the value of assent. If you have spent years receiving orders, invoices or renewals and never said anything because you have always accepted them, that history counts. The article does not say how many times are needed. The other half of the article serves the reverse case, when what is attributed to you is an acceptance without words. A tacit manifestation does not stand on its own: it must rest on unequivocal signs, fall on a determined object and be made in a habitual context. Three requirements, all of them required. And a warning about an exit people think they have and do not: Article 265 says involuntary acts also produce the effects the law attributes to them, so describing something as unwanted is not enough to undo it. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.

Common mistakes

  • Believing not answering always equals accepting: Article 267 says silence does not declare will.
  • Believing it never does: the same article opens three exceptions.
  • Forgetting the contract clause that gave silence a value: that is the second exception.
  • Overlooking the record of prior dealings between the parties: that is the third.
  • Accepting a tacit acceptance with no unequivocal signs: the article demands them.
  • Keeping only one of the tacit manifestation’s three requirements: all three are needed.
  • Thinking calling an act involuntary strips its effects: Article 265 says it produces them anyway.
  • Looking in Article 266 for the age of a minor or a definition of disability: it gives neither.

Frequently asked questions

I did not answer. Does that mean I accepted?

As a rule, no. Article 267 says silence or inaction do not constitute a manifestation of will, save three exceptions.

May silence be agreed to count as yes?

Yes. The same article admits the parties agreeing to assign silence that value.

What does a wordless acceptance need?

Article 267 requires unequivocal signs, falling on a determined object and in a habitual context.

May a minor execute a juridical act?

Article 266 presumes minors are incapable of executing them, unless the law provides otherwise.

Official sources

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

Last verified

September 12, 2026

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