In short
Article 423 opens with a sentence many people do not know: dissolution of the marriage by divorce may be declared by judicial judgment or by public deed. Two routes, although this article does not explain how the second works. Article 424 sets the jurisdictional requirement: nobody may seek or obtain a divorce without having resided in Puerto Rico for one year, continuously and immediately before filing, unless the grounds of the individual petition occurred here or one of the spouses resides here; and the period may be shorter if the spouse’s presumed death occurs in Puerto Rico. Article 425 lists the three types: joint petition by consent, joint petition for irreparable rupture of the bonds of marital cohabitation, and individual petition for that same rupture. Every petition is signed under oath. Article 426 is the one that changes the situation on the very day of filing. Filing the petition revokes the mandates either spouse granted the other, save where acting in their name is indispensable to interrupt a prescription or protect a right mutual or beneficial to the common children; it ends the common or ganancial character of the goods each acquires during the process, without removing the duty to keep collaborating and contributing to the family’s burdens; and it lets either of the two note the petition in the corresponding registries. Article 427 forbids granting the divorce when the petition results from a fraudulent agreement, and defines that fraud as not truly wanting to dissolve the marriage and using the dissolution as a subterfuge to harm third parties or evade economic responsibilities. And Article 428 extinguishes the action by the death of either spouse and by reconciliation.
What is it?
They are Articles 423 to 428 of the Civil Code of 2020: the routes to divorce, the residence required, the types of petition, and what changes the day it is filed.
Who can do it?
Anyone married about to seek a divorce in Puerto Rico, and their spouse.
Requirements
- The divorce may be declared by judicial judgment or by public deed.Verified against the official source
- One year of continuous residence in Puerto Rico immediately before filing is required, with the exceptions the article lists.Verified against the official source
- There are three types: joint by consent, joint for irreparable rupture, and individual for irreparable rupture.Verified against the official source
- Every petition must be sworn by both spouses if joint, or by the petitioning party if individual.Verified against the official source
- Filing the petition revokes the mandates granted between the spouses, with the article’s own exceptions.Verified against the official source
- The common or ganancial character of the goods each acquires during the process ceases.Verified against the official source
- The divorce may not be granted when the petition results from a fraudulent agreement between the spouses.Verified against the official source
- The divorce action is extinguished by the death of either spouse and by reconciliation.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Choose the route
Article 423: the divorce may be declared by judicial judgment or by public deed.
Step 2: Check the residence
Article 424: one continuous year immediately before filing, save the exceptions the article names.
Step 3: Pick the type of petition
Article 425: joint by consent, joint for irreparable rupture, or individual for that rupture.
Step 4: Expect the powers to be revoked
Article 426(a): filing revokes the mandates one spouse granted the other.
Step 5: And the ganancial clock stops
Article 426(b): the common character of the goods each acquires during the process ceases.
Step 6: But you keep contributing
The same paragraph keeps the duty to collaborate and contribute to the family’s needs and burdens.
Step 7: Note the petition
Article 426(c): either of the two may ask for it to be noted in the corresponding registries.
Step 8: If you reconcile, the action ends
Article 428: the divorce action is extinguished by a spouse’s death and by reconciliation.
Where to do it
These six articles do not describe the court procedure, which this site covers in a separate guide from the Poder Judicial’s source. The Code names divorce by public deed here and does not say how that route works, before which notary or with what requirements. It does not say how the year of continuous residence is established. It does not say what counts as reconciliation or how it is proved, although it extinguishes the action. It does not specify which registries Article 426(c) means. And it does not say what happens to what was acquired before filing, because the article only cuts forward. None of those gaps is filled here.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If you are getting divorced, the article that moves the most money is 426, and it moves it from the day of filing, not from the judgment. It says the common or ganancial character of the goods each acquires during the process ceases. That means the salary, the bonus, the business or the purchase after the filing no longer enter the common pot, and that is why the filing date becomes a border worth documenting well on both sides. The same article does something else that surprises: it revokes the mandates either spouse granted the other. If your partner held a power from you to sell, collect or sign, filing the petition switches it off, with the two exceptions the paragraph itself saves: where acting in your name is indispensable to interrupt a prescription period, or to protect a right or benefit mutual or beneficial to the common children. And there is a third paragraph almost nobody uses: either of the two may ask for the petition to be noted in the corresponding registries, which keeps the situation from going unnoticed by anyone about to contract over those goods. What does not change on filing is the duty to support the family: the article itself says the ceasing of the ganancial character is without impairing the obligation to continue personal collaboration and economic contribution to the family’s needs and burdens. Two more warnings. Article 424 requires a year of continuous residence in Puerto Rico immediately before filing, with exceptions if the grounds occurred here, if one of the spouses resides here, or if the spouse’s presumed death occurs here. And Article 427 forbids the fake agreed divorce: if the dissolution is a subterfuge to harm third parties or evade economic responsibilities, it may never be granted. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Believing the ganancial clock stops at judgment: Article 426 stops it at the filing of the petition.
- Still using the power your spouse gave you: the petition revokes mandates between them.
- Forgetting the two exceptions to that revocation, which the paragraph itself saves.
- Thinking the duty to contribute to the family’s burdens also ceases: the article keeps it.
- Not noting the petition in the corresponding registries, when either of the two may.
- Treating an unsworn petition as good: Article 425 requires an oath in all three types.
- Ignoring Article 424’s year of continuous residence and its exceptions.
- Agreeing a fake divorce: Article 427 forbids granting it in any case.
Frequently asked questions
From when do goods stop being ganancial?
Article 426 ends the common or ganancial character of what each acquires from the filing of the petition.
Does the power I gave my spouse still hold?
The same article revokes mandates between spouses upon filing, save two exceptions it lists.
How long must one have lived in Puerto Rico?
Article 424 asks for one continuous year immediately before filing, with the exceptions the article names.
We reconciled. What happens to the case?
Article 428 says the divorce action is extinguished by the spouses’ reconciliation.
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.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
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How to get divorced in Puerto Rico: court or notary
The two grounds, the notarial divorce, the free OAT forms, and the $90 or $78 in stamps the Judiciary publishes.
The individual-petition judgment does not describe the conduct behind the divorce
Article 434 of the Civil Code of 2020 dissolves the tie without describing the specific conduct behind an individual petition for irreparable rupture.
The dissolution does not prejudice good-faith third parties until it is inscribed
Article 418 of the Civil Code of 2020 requires noting the dissolution in the margin of the marriage inscription and makes it opposable only from then.
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.
Neither spouse may claim to represent the other without express permission
Article 402 of the Civil Code of 2020 requires representation between spouses to be expressly conferred, by judicial authority or by law.
Who stays in the house after the divorce
Preferential attribution divides ownership; the right to remain lets you live there. Two different things, and both can be asked for.
The court may forbid taking the children out of Puerto Rico while the case lasts
Article 446 of the Civil Code of 2020 allows forbidding moving the children out of Puerto Rico and protecting their health plan during the dissolution process.
From the day of filing, neither may encumber or sell the common goods alone
Article 455 of the Civil Code of 2020 bars disposing of common goods without the other spouse’s consent or prior judicial authorisation from the filing date.