In short
Article 1536 of the Civil Code of 2020 is among the shortest and most used: the person who by fault or negligence causes damage to another is obliged to repair it. A single sentence, and it is the general rule of civil liability outside contract. Article 1537 sets a limit that surprises many: damage actions are not permitted between parents and children while the institution of patria potestad or custody exists between them, save where the law provides otherwise; between grandparents and grandchildren, provided a close and affectionate relationship exists between them and where the grandparents exercise an important role in their grandchildren’s upbringing; and between spouses, if the act of fault or negligence takes place during the validity of the marital bond. This is the family immunity, and the conditions deserve careful reading: the parent-child one is tied to patria potestad or custody existing, the grandparent one requires a close and affectionate relationship plus an important role in the upbringing, and the spousal one covers only what occurred during the bond’s validity. But the article itself closes with the paragraph that matters most: the exceptions provided in this article are not applicable where the act or omission constitutes a crime or where there is no family unity to protect. Two ways out, and the first is concrete: if what happened is a crime, the immunity does not apply. What the Code does not do is define what a close and affectionate relationship is, or what an important role in the upbringing is, or who decides whether there is family unity to protect. Nor does it fix here the period to sue for damages, and this guide does not supply it.
What is it?
They are Articles 1536 and 1537 of the Civil Code of 2020: the obligation to repair damage caused by fault or negligence, and the three cases of family immunity with their two exceptions.
Who can do it?
Whoever suffered damage caused by another person’s fault or negligence, under the Puerto Rico Civil Code.
Requirements
- That a person cause damage to another by fault or negligence: then they are obliged to repair it.Verified against the official source
- Damage actions are not permitted between parents and children while patria potestad or custody exists, save where the law provides otherwise.Verified against the official source
- Nor between grandparents and grandchildren where a close and affectionate relationship exists and the grandparents play an important role in the upbringing, nor between spouses for acts during the bond’s validity.Verified against the official source
- These immunities do not apply where the act or omission constitutes a crime or where there is no family unity to protect.Verified against the official source
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Step by step
Step 1: The general rule, in one sentence
Article 1536: the person who by fault or negligence causes damage to another is obliged to repair it. It is the basis of civil liability outside contract.
Step 2: What the article does not define
It does not say here what fault or negligence is, does not say how the damage is proved or valued, and sets no period to sue. This guide fills none of that in.
Step 3: The parent-child immunity
Article 1537(a): damage actions are not permitted between parents and children while the institution of patria potestad or custody exists between them, save where the law provides otherwise. The immunity is tied to patria potestad or custody existing, not to kinship alone.
Step 4: The grandparent one, with two conditions
Subsection (b): provided a close and affectionate relationship exists between them, and where the grandparents exercise an important role in their grandchildren’s upbringing. Both go together, and the Code defines neither.
Step 5: And the spousal one, limited in time
Subsection (c): between spouses, if the act of fault or negligence takes place during the validity of the marital bond. The immunity covers what occurred while the bond was in force.
Step 6: First way out: that the act be a crime
Final paragraph: the exceptions provided in this article are not applicable where the act or omission constitutes a crime. It is the more concrete of the two, and worth knowing before treating a family claim as closed.
Step 7: Second: that there be no family unity to protect
The same paragraph: or where there is no family unity to protect. The Code states the criterion and does not say who assesses it or on what proof; this guide does not fill that in.
Step 8: Why this guide does not cover vicarious or strict liability
The chapter’s next articles deal with liability for others’ acts and with liability that requires no fault. They are not here, and the reason matters: the consolidated text we read is current only through Act 130-2026, and a later statute, Act 191-2026, amended precisely those articles. Writing them from this consolidation would publish a superseded rule.
Where to do it
The Code names no agency for this chapter. Damage actions are decided by the Court of First Instance. Article 1537(a) refers to what "the law provides" otherwise, without naming any norm.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your case is about a hospital’s liability, an employer’s for its employees, a vehicle owner’s for whoever drives it, or an animal’s, those articles are not in this guide and must be read in their current version: Act 191-2026 amended that part of the chapter and the consolidated text we used does not carry it. This site has a guide on that change, read from the statute itself. If the damage comes from a breach of contract, the route is different and there are separate guides. If you need to know how long you have to sue, these two articles do not say. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Treating a family claim as closed without reading the final paragraph of Article 1537.
- Forgetting the immunity does not apply where the act or omission constitutes a crime.
- Assuming the parent-child immunity runs on kinship: it is tied to patria potestad or custody.
- Applying the grandparent immunity without the two conditions subsection (b) requires.
- Extending the spousal immunity to acts outside the bond’s validity.
- Overlooking the proviso in subsection (a): save where the law provides otherwise.
- Looking in these two articles for the period to sue for damages: they fix none.
- Reading the chapter’s next articles in the consolidated text without knowing Act 191-2026 amended them.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sue a relative for negligence?
Article 1537 does not permit damage actions between parents and children with patria potestad or custody, between grandparents and grandchildren with a close relationship and a role in the upbringing, or between spouses for acts during the bond’s validity; but those immunities do not apply where the act or omission constitutes a crime or where there is no family unity to protect.
What must be proved for the damage to be repaired?
Article 1536 says the person who by fault or negligence causes damage to another is obliged to repair it. The article does not define fault or negligence here, nor say how they are proved.
How long do I have to sue?
These two articles set no period. The Code does not say here and this guide does not supply it.
And an employer’s or a hospital’s liability?
Those situations are in the chapter’s next articles, which this guide does not cover: the consolidated text we read runs through Act 130-2026 and Act 191-2026 amended that part. There is a separate guide on that change, read from the statute itself.
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
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