In short
When several people inherit at once, between the death and the division there is a stage with a name of its own. Article 1599 defines it: a hereditary community exists when a plurality of persons concur in the succession with rights in the inheritance expressed in abstract quotas. “Abstract” is the key word: nobody yet has a specific good, each has a fraction of the whole. Article 1600 says it in a single line and without exceptions: the hereditary community has no juridical personality. It is not a separate entity. Article 1601 says where the rules this chapter does not carry come from: in what is not provided here, the state of hereditary community is governed by the provisions related to the administration of the inheritance and by those of the community of property. Two supplementary bodies, named in that order, and both live in other parts of the Code with their own guides on this site. Article 1602 opens a door to the court, and opens it wide: it may order, at the request of any person with a legitimate interest in the inheritance, the urgent measures required for the conservation of the common goods. Note it does not say “at the request of a co-heir”. Article 1603 settles the most common fight of the period: the fruits of the common goods belong to the inheritance until the partition is carried out. They are not the property of whoever collects them or whoever lives in the house: they belong to the inheritance, and until the division. And Article 1610 says how all this ends: by the same causes that extinguish real rights; by the reunion of all the quotas in one same person; and by the partition of the inheritance. The first item points outside this chapter and the Code does not enumerate those causes here.
What is it?
They are Articles 1599 to 1603 and 1610 of the Civil Code of 2020: what the hereditary community is, that it has no juridical personality, which rules govern it, the court’s urgent measures, whom the fruits belong to and how it is extinguished.
Who can do it?
Whoever inherits alongside others with no partition yet, and whoever holds a legitimate interest in those common goods.
Requirements
- A hereditary community exists when a plurality of persons concur in the succession with rights in the inheritance expressed in abstract quotas.Verified against the official source
- The hereditary community has no juridical personality.Verified against the official source
- The fruits of the common goods belong to the inheritance until the partition is carried out.Verified against the official source
- The court may order urgent conservation measures at the request of any person with a legitimate interest in the inheritance.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: When it exists
Article 1599: when a plurality of persons concur in the succession with rights in the inheritance. With a single heir there is no community.
Step 2: Abstract quotas, not specific goods
The same article: the rights are expressed in abstract quotas. Nobody yet has “the house” or “the car”: each has a fraction of the whole.
Step 3: It is not an entity
Article 1600: the hereditary community has no juridical personality. One line, no exceptions.
Step 4: Where the remaining rules come from
Article 1601: in what is not provided in this chapter, the provisions on the administration of the inheritance and those of the community of property govern. Two supplementary bodies, in that order.
Step 5: If something must be protected now
Article 1602: the court may order the urgent measures required for the conservation of the common goods.
Step 6: Who may request them
The same article: any person with a legitimate interest in the inheritance. It does not say co-heir, it says legitimate interest, and the Code does not define that interest here.
Step 7: Whose is the income meanwhile
Article 1603: the fruits of the common goods belong to the inheritance. Not to whoever collects them, nor to whoever occupies the good.
Step 8: Until when
The same article sets the boundary: until the partition is carried out. Before that, the fruits remain the estate’s.
Step 9: How it ends, (b) and (c)
Article 1610: by the reunion of all the quotas in one same person, and by the partition of the inheritance. These are the two routes the chapter describes on its own.
Step 10: And item (a), which points outside
The same article opens with “by the same causes that extinguish real rights”. The Code does not enumerate those causes here and this guide does not enumerate them for it.
Where to do it
The only article in this group that leads to a forum is 1602, which places the urgent conservation measures before the court. The Code does not say here before which court they are requested, in what form, at what fee or how long they take, and this guide does not assume it.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If one of the heirs is collecting the rent on an inherited property and keeping it, Article 1603 says the fruits of the common goods belong to the inheritance until the partition is carried out. If what is needed is to protect a good deteriorating while the matter is argued, Article 1602 allows requesting urgent conservation measures from the court, and does not require being a co-heir: a legitimate interest in the inheritance is enough. If someone tells you the estate can act as if it were an entity, Article 1600 says the hereditary community has no juridical personality. And for what this chapter does not cover, Article 1601 refers to the administration of the inheritance and to the community of property, which have their own guides here. This chapter does not define the abstract quota, does not say who is a person with legitimate interest, does not describe the partition and does not list the causes that extinguish real rights. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Believing each heir already owns a specific good: Article 1599 speaks of abstract quotas.
- Treating the estate as an entity with its own personality: Article 1600 says it has none.
- Keeping the income from a common good before the partition: it belongs to the inheritance.
- Thinking only a co-heir may request urgent measures: Article 1602 speaks of any person with a legitimate interest.
- Looking in this chapter for all the rules: Article 1601 refers to the administration of the inheritance and the community of property.
- Confusing the hereditary community with the community of property: the latter is only supplementary to the former.
- Believing the community ends by itself with time: Article 1610 names three modes and none is the mere passage of time.
- Expecting Article 1610 to list the causes that extinguish real rights: it points outside the chapter.
Frequently asked questions
Whose is the rent on the inherited house before dividing?
Article 1603 says the fruits of the common goods belong to the inheritance until the partition is carried out.
Is the estate a separate entity?
Article 1600 says the hereditary community has no juridical personality.
May I ask the court to protect the goods while we argue?
Article 1602 says the court may order, at the request of any person with a legitimate interest in the inheritance, the urgent measures required for the conservation of the common goods.
How does the hereditary community end?
Article 1610 names three modes: by the same causes that extinguish real rights, by the reunion of all the quotas in one same person, and by the partition of the inheritance.
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 11, 2026
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Did you find out-of-date information?
You sell your quota without permission; a specific good needs every heir
Article 1604 of the Civil Code of 2020 separates the two, and 1605 gives co-heirs thirty days of tanteo if the buyer is a stranger.
A testator may forbid dividing for four years; the heirs may renew it
Article 1607 of the Civil Code of 2020 gives the testator a four-year cap that does not reach the legítima. Article 1608 lets the heirs renew theirs.
Co-owned property: how it is managed and how it is divided
A co-owner is not required to remain in the community: they may demand division at any time. And management is decided by quota value, not by headcount.
Who looks after the estate while nobody has accepted the inheritance
Article 1563 of the Civil Code of 2020 sets four rungs in order: the decedent’s designee, the executor, those called to succeed and, absent agreement, the court.
An inheritance can be debts alone: the Code says so in those words
Article 1552 says the inheritance comprises rights and obligations even where obligations exceed rights, or where there are only obligations.
An heir answers only up to the value of what they receive, with two exceptions
Article 1587 of the Civil Code of 2020 sets that cap. Article 1588 breaks it if you pay unmatured debts with estate goods or damage them by your fault.