Disinheriting requires naming the cause in the will, and the heir bears the proof

They are Articles 1631 to 1638 of the Civil Code of 2020: what disinheriting is, how it is done, who proves what, the two-year term to challenge, the causes for descendants, ascendants and spouse, and the effect of reconciliation.

Whoever was disinherited in a will, whoever is considering disinheriting, and the heirs who would have to sustain that cause.

• The disinheritance and its cause must appear expressly and clearly in the will.Verified against the official source
• If the forced heir challenges for non-existence of cause, it falls to the heir to prove it; if they allege reconciliation or pardon, it falls to the disinherited person to prove it.Verified against the official source
• The action of challenge lapses after two years from when the disinheritance is known.Verified against the official source
• Subsequent reconciliation leaves an already-made disinheritance without effect and produces the effects of preterition.Verified against the official source

• The will, where the disinheritance and its cause must appear expressly and clearly.
• The proof of the alleged cause, which falls to the heir when non-existence is challenged.
• The proof of the reconciliation or pardon, which falls to the disinherited person when they allege it.

1. 1

   Step 1: What disinheriting is

   Article 1631: the testamentary disposition that deprives a forced heir of their right to the inheritance by one of the causes the Code indicates.

2. 2

   Step 2: It must be written and clear

   Article 1632: the disinheritance and its cause must appear expressly and clearly in the will. The cause too, not only the exclusion.

3. 3

   Step 3: If you challenge for lack of cause

   Article 1633: it falls to the heir to prove it. The burden is not yours.

4. 4

   Step 4: If you allege reconciliation or pardon

   The same article switches sides: it falls to the disinherited person to prove it.

5. 5

   Step 5: Two years to challenge

   Closing of 1633: the action lapses after two years from when the disinheritance is known. The Code does not say here how that knowledge is established.

6. 6

   Step 6: When the disinheritance does not hold

   Article 1634: without expression of cause; by a challenged cause whose certainty cannot be proved; or by a cause not among those indicated in the Code.

7. 7

   Step 7: And then what happens

   The same article: it produces the effects of preterition. That is, the will does not fall and the legítima is divided among all the forced heirs.

8. 8

   Step 8: Unworthiness is always included

   The three cause articles open the same way: “besides unworthiness”. The six causes of Article 1556 also serve to disinherit.

9. 9

   Step 9: Causes to disinherit a descendant

   Article 1635: denying support to the testator without legitimate motive; mistreating, gravely insulting or attempting against their life; and being negligent in taking them into their care when ill or unable to fend for themselves.

10. 10

    Step 10: Causes to disinherit an ascendant

    Article 1636 adds two to the previous: having been deprived of patria potestad over the testator, and one parent having attempted against the other’s life, if there was no reconciliation between them.

11. 11

    Step 11: Causes to disinherit a spouse

    Article 1637: having been deprived of patria potestad over the common children; denying support to the testator or their children without legitimate motive; mistreating, gravely insulting or attempting against their life; and being negligent in caring for them when ill.

12. 12

    Step 12: Reconciliation undoes it

    Article 1638: it deprives the offended of the right to disinherit, leaves an already-made disinheritance without effect, and produces the effects of preterition.

13. 13

    Step 13: Reconciliation and pardon appear differently

    Article 1638 names only reconciliation. The pardon appears in 1633, among what the disinherited person may allege. The Code treats them differently and this guide does not merge them.

These eight articles describe no procedure before any agency. The challenge is an action, but the Code does not say here before which forum it is filed, in what form or at what fee, and this guide does not invent it.

• Believing it is enough not to mention someone to disinherit them: Article 1632 requires the disinheritance and its cause to appear expressly and clearly.
• Thinking whoever challenges must prove the cause did not exist: Article 1633 puts that proof on the heir.
• Assuming the proof of reconciliation also falls to the heir: it falls to the disinherited person.
• Letting the two years of Article 1633 pass from when the disinheritance is known.
• Believing a disinheritance without cause voids the will: Article 1634 gives it the effects of preterition.
• Forgetting all three cause lists begin with “besides unworthiness”.
• Using a descendant’s causes to disinherit an ascendant or the spouse: each group has its own list.
• Treating a disinheritance as settled after a reconciliation: Article 1638 leaves it without effect.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov