A pension left in a will is paid in advance, and a begun period is never returned

They are Articles 1702, 1703, 1704 and 1705 of the Civil Code of 2020: how long a legacy of education lasts, how long one of alimentos, how the amount is fixed when the will is silent, and when a periodic pension left in a will is collected.

Any legatee left education, alimentos or a periodic pension by a will, and the heir or albacea who must pay them.

• The legacy of education subsists until the legatee is of age, unless the testator provides otherwise.Verified against the official source
• The legacy of alimentos subsists while the legatee lives, unless the testator provides otherwise.Verified against the official source
• With no amount named, it is fixed according to the legatee’s need and the estate.Verified against the official source
• The form and amount customary by the testator are also considered, if not disproportionate to the estate.Verified against the official source
• For a periodic pension the first payment is demanded from the testator’s death and the rest at the start of each period.Verified against the official source

• The will, which says whether an amount and a periodicity were named.
• The testator’s death certificate: the pension’s first payment is demanded from that date.
• The estate inventory, which Article 1704 uses to fix the amount when the will is silent.

1. 1

   Step 1: Education ends at majority

   Article 1702: it subsists until the legatee is of age, unless the testator provides otherwise.

2. 2

   Step 2: Not with the degree

   The article speaks of age, not of finishing studies. The cut-off is not changed here.

3. 3

   Step 3: Alimentos last a lifetime

   Article 1703: they subsist while the legatee lives, unless the testator provides otherwise.

4. 4

   Step 4: If no amount was named

   Article 1704: it is fixed according to the legatee’s need and the estate.

5. 5

   Step 5: And according to what they used to give

   The form and amount customary by the testator also count, but only if not disproportionate to the estate.

6. 6

   Step 6: The pension runs from the death

   Article 1705: the legatee may demand the first payment from the testator’s death.

7. 7

   Step 7: And in advance

   The rest are demanded at the beginning of each period, not at the end.

8. 8

   Step 8: A begun period is not returned

   The same article: no return is due because of their death before the begun period ends.

These articles describe no procedure before any agency: the pension and the alimentos are asked of the heir or albacea, like any legacy. The Code does not say here who fixes Article 1704’s amount or before which forum, how it is revised if the need changes, what the period of a pension is when the will is silent, or what happens if the estate runs out mid-pension. None of those gaps is filled here. The alimentos owed between relatives are a different institution with its own guide on this site.

• Believing the education legacy lasts until the degree is finished: Article 1702 cuts it at majority.
• Assuming the alimentos one also ends at a certain age: Article 1703 extends it while the legatee lives.
• Forgetting both rules yield if the testator provided otherwise.
• Fixing the amount by need alone: Article 1704 also weighs the estate.
• Applying what the testator habitually gave without more: it counts only if not disproportionate to the estate.
• Waiting for the period to end to collect the pension: Article 1705 demands it at the start of each.
• Delaying the first payment: it is demanded from the testator’s death.
• Returning the part of the period in which the legatee died: the article says no return is due.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov