In short
Where the capacities of creditor and debtor meet in the same person, the obligation is extinguished together with its securities. That is merger of rights, and the Code settles it in three articles with two important exceptions inside the first. The first: the heir’s own credits and debts are not merged with the hereditary debts and credits, so inheriting from your creditor does not simply wipe out what you owed them. The second: what is provided on merger of rights does not apply to the reacquisition of a negotiable instrument by its debtor where the debtor chooses to put it back into circulation. On personal securities, the Code distinguishes by which side the coincidence falls on: merger falling on the person of the principal debtor or creditor benefits the sureties, but merger falling on any of the sureties does not extinguish the obligation. And where the debt is mancomunada, merger does not extinguish it entirely: only in the portion corresponding to the creditor or debtor in whom both capacities concur.
What is it?
It is Section Five of Chapter II of Title II of Book Four of the Civil Code of 2020, Articles 1153 to 1155, closing the chapter on the substitutes for payment. It explains what happens to an obligation when creditor and debtor end up being the same person.
Who can do it?
Any obligation in which the capacities of creditor and debtor meet in the same person, save the two cases Article 1153 itself excludes.
Requirements
- That the capacities of creditor and debtor of the same obligation meet in the same person.Verified against the official source
- That it not be the heir’s own credits and debts against the hereditary ones, which Article 1153 keeps separate.Verified against the official source
- That it not be the reacquisition of a negotiable instrument by its debtor where they choose to put it back into circulation.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: The rule, and what it takes with it
Article 1153 opens like this: where the capacities of creditor and debtor meet in the same person, the obligation is extinguished together with its securities. Not only does the debt die: so do the securities backing it.
Step 2: Inheriting from your creditor does not wipe the debt
The second paragraph of the same article separates it expressly: the heir’s own credits and debts are not merged with the hereditary debts and credits. The heir’s estate and the inheritance are looked at apart. How that separation is maintained belongs to the law of succession, which we did not read for this guide.
Step 3: The negotiable-instrument exception
The third paragraph takes one concrete case out of the section’s reach: what this section provides on merger of rights does not apply to the reacquisition of a negotiable instrument by its debtor, where the debtor chooses to put it back into circulation. Putting the paper back into circulation is what avoids the extinction.
Step 4: What happens to the sureties
Article 1154 settles it by which side the coincidence fell on. Merger falling on the person of the principal debtor or creditor benefits the sureties: if the principal obligation dies, they are out. But merger falling on any of the sureties does not extinguish the obligation: the principal debtor still owes.
Step 5: If the debt is mancomunada, it dies in pieces
Article 1155 limits it: merger does not extinguish a mancomunada debt except in the portion corresponding to the creditor or debtor in whom both capacities concur. The rest of the debt goes on living in the others’ hands.
Step 6: A detail of the official text
Articles 1153 and 1154 carry their citation to the Laws of Puerto Rico Annotated — 31 L.P.R.A. §§ 9241 and 9242. Article 1155 appears in the consolidated text with no citation at all: just "Artículo 1155. — Extinción proporcional". We say so because that is how it is published, and we will not invent a citation the source does not carry.
Where to do it
Merger operates on its own when the two capacities meet; there is no procedure and no counter. If it is disputed whether merger occurred or how far it reached, the Court of First Instance decides. The Code names no agency here.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
If your case is an inheritance, this guide tells you that the heir’s own credits and debts are not merged with the hereditary ones, and nothing more: how an estate is administered and kept separate is the law of succession and we did not read it here. If what you reacquired is a promissory note or a cheque, the section does not apply to you where you choose to put it back into circulation, and the rules for those instruments are in other legislation we did not read either. If the debt is solidary rather than mancomunada, see the guide on joint and several debtors: Article 1155 speaks only of the mancomunada one. The Code publishes no fee and no term for these articles. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Treating a debt as dead on inheriting from the creditor: the heir’s own credits and debts are not merged with the hereditary ones.
- Forgetting that the extinction also takes the obligation’s securities with it.
- Believing merger in a surety releases the principal debtor: it does not extinguish the obligation.
- Not taking advantage that merger in the principal debtor or creditor does benefit the sureties.
- Extinguishing a mancomunada debt entirely: only the portion of whoever holds both capacities is extinguished.
- Applying the section to the reacquisition of a negotiable instrument the debtor puts back into circulation.
- Confusing the mancomunada debt with the solidary one: Article 1155 speaks of the former.
- Looking in the consolidated text for the L.P.R.A. citation of Article 1155: it is published without one.
Frequently asked questions
I inherited from the person I owed — is the debt wiped out?
Not automatically. Article 1153 says the heir’s own credits and debts are not merged with the hereditary debts and credits. How that separation is administered is the law of succession, which this guide does not cover.
What happens to the sureties if merger occurs?
Merger falling on the person of the principal debtor or creditor benefits the sureties. Merger falling on any of the sureties does not extinguish the obligation.
We are several mancomunados debtors and one became the creditor — is it all over?
No. Under Article 1155, merger does not extinguish the mancomunada debt except in the portion corresponding to the creditor or debtor in whom both capacities concur.
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 8, 2026
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