In short
Four articles decide what a surety defends itself with and how much it owes when there are several. Article 1485 is the chapter’s most generous: the surety may raise all its own defences and those belonging to the principal debtor, even where the latter has waived them. That last clause is the one to underline: if the debtor waived a defence, that waiver does not drag the surety along. Article 1486 protects the surety from a lawsuit it never saw coming: where the surety has not been notified of the litigation against the principal debtor, the judgement is not binding on it. The article does not say whose job the notice is, in what form, or within what time, and this guide does not supply that. Article 1487 splits among several: except where there is an express waiver, the existence of more than one surety implies that each answers for the share it has bound itself to; and absent agreement, the co-sureties answer in equal parts. That is the benefit of division, and it too may be waived. And Article 1488 clarifies exactly what solidarity does, in a sentence worth reading whole: solidary suretyship is governed by the rules of this Chapter, and the only effect of solidarity is that the surety does not have the benefits of excussion and division. The Code says "the only effect", so a solidary surety still keeps everything else this chapter grants, starting with the defences of Article 1485 and with the limit of never owing more than the debtor. This guide does not extend solidarity’s consequence beyond those two benefits.
What is it?
They are Articles 1485, 1486, 1487 and 1488 of the Civil Code of 2020: what defences the surety has, when a judgement does not bind it, how liability splits among several sureties, and exactly what a solidary suretyship changes.
Who can do it?
Sureties from whom a creditor is claiming payment, and co-sureties, under a suretyship contract governed by the Puerto Rico Civil Code.
Requirements
- The surety may raise all its own defences and those belonging to the principal debtor, even where the latter waived them.Verified against the official source
- Where the surety has not been notified of the litigation against the principal debtor, the judgement is not binding on it.Verified against the official source
- With more than one surety, and absent an express waiver, each answers for its share; absent agreement, in equal parts.Verified against the official source
- The only effect of solidarity is that the surety does not have the benefits of excussion and division.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: You get your defences and the debtor’s
Article 1485: the surety may raise all its own defences and those belonging to the principal debtor. The word "all" is in the text and carries no written exceptions in this article.
Step 2: Even if the debtor waived them
The same article closes: even where the latter has waived them. The debtor’s waiver does not bind the surety. It is a protection that survives whatever the debtor signed on their own.
Step 3: If you were left out of the lawsuit
Article 1486: where the surety has not been notified of the litigation against the principal debtor, the judgement is not binding on it. A judgement handed down behind your back does not tie you.
Step 4: Who notifies, how and when: it does not say
The article fixes the effect, not the procedure: it does not say whose job the notice is, in what form, within what time, or what happens to the lawsuit afterwards. This guide points at the gap and does not fill it.
Step 5: With several sureties, each its share
Article 1487: except where there is an express waiver, the existence of more than one surety implies that each answers for the share it bound itself to. That is the benefit of division.
Step 6: And with no agreed shares, equal parts
The same article: absent agreement, the co-sureties answer in equal parts. The default split is arithmetical, not proportional to anything else.
Step 7: But it can be waived
The article opens with "except where there is an express waiver". As with excussion, the protection may have been given up in the document itself, so it is worth reading before relying on it.
Step 8: What, exactly, a solidary suretyship does
Article 1488: solidary suretyship is governed by the rules of this Chapter. The only effect of solidarity is that the surety does not have the benefits of excussion and division. The Code writes "the only effect", and this guide sticks to that word.
Step 9: What a solidary surety does keep
By that same sentence: it may still raise its own defences and the debtor’s, it still cannot owe more than the debtor, and the rules on duration, extinction and the rest of the chapter still apply. This guide does not extend solidarity beyond the two benefits the article names.
Step 10: What this section does not carry
It does not say how the shares are proved, describes no procedure for notifying the litigation, and does not address what happens when a co-surety turns out insolvent: that is in the co-sureties section, which is not in this guide.
Where to do it
The defences are raised in the lawsuit the creditor brings; the forum is the Court of First Instance. The Code names no agency for this chapter.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your question is whether the creditor must go against the debtor first, that is the benefit of excussion and has its own guide. If you already paid and want to recover from the debtor, that is subrogation, also with its own guide. If there are several of you and one turned out insolvent, the co-sureties section is not in this guide. These articles do not say who notifies the litigation or within what period, do not describe how the shares are proved, and do not say what happens procedurally when a judgement does not bind the surety. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Believing the debtor’s waiver of a defence binds you: Article 1485 says it does not.
- Paying without raising your own defences and the debtor’s that the article grants you.
- Treating as binding a judgement against the debtor whose litigation you were never notified of.
- Not documenting whether you were notified of the lawsuit and on what date.
- Assuming that with several sureties each answers for the whole: the rule is by share, absent an express waiver.
- Forgetting that with no agreed shares the co-sureties answer in equal parts.
- Relying on the benefit of division without checking for an express waiver in the document.
- Believing that being a solidary surety strips all protections: the only effect is excussion and division.
Frequently asked questions
The debtor waived a defence. Can I use it?
Yes. Article 1485 says the surety may raise all its own defences and those belonging to the principal debtor, even where the latter waived them.
I was never told of the lawsuit against the debtor. Does the judgement bind me?
Article 1486 says that where the surety has not been notified of the litigation against the principal debtor, the judgement is not binding on it.
There are three of us as sureties. How much is mine?
Article 1487 says each answers for the share it bound itself to and, absent agreement, the co-sureties answer in equal parts. Unless there is an express waiver of that benefit.
What do I lose by signing a solidary suretyship?
Article 1488 says it in one sentence: the only effect of solidarity is that the surety does not have the benefits of excussion and division. The rest of the chapter still applies.
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 10, 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.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
Was this guide helpful?
Did you find out-of-date information?
They come at you as surety: the debtor’s property goes first
Article 1483 makes the creditor exhaust the debtor’s property before turning to the surety. Article 1484 lists five exceptions.
Standing surety: never more than the debtor, but costs are included
Article 1475 bars the surety from owing more than the debtor, and 1474 folds accessories, costs and fees into the suretyship.
Standing surety: if it is not in writing, the suretyship is void
Article 1482 voids a suretyship not agreed in writing, and 1481 bars the surety from excusing itself on the debtor’s incapacity.
Several debtors: when each pays a share and when one is charged the lot
Solidarity is not presumed: the obligation or the law must say so. Without it, the debt is presumed divided into equal parts.
What can be performed in parts and what cannot
If there are several and the performance can be split, each owes their part and one who defaults does not oblige the others.
What an obligation is and where it comes from
Six sources, and the list stays open. Whoever performs knowing they were not bound cannot demand it back.
You overpaid as co-surety: you recover from the others, but share the loss
Article 1493 subrogates the overpaying co-surety against the others, and 1494 spreads the insolvent one’s loss among all — including it.
They extended the debtor’s deadline without asking you: your suretyship ends
Article 1495 extinguishes the suretyship on an extension given without the surety’s consent, unconsented novation, and creditor negligence in excussion.