You may grant the divorce dividing nothing, but then the children’s matters go to court

It is Article 474 of the Civil Code of 2020, the second notarial divorce route: the deed recording the irreparable breakdown of the bonds of marital cohabitation.

Spouses in the same situation Article 473 contemplates who prefer to grant the deed without liquidating gananciales or stipulating on the minors.

• The route operates in the situation the previous article contemplates, so Article 473’s residence condition still applies.Verified against the official source
• The spouses appear before a notary to record in a public deed the existence of an irreparable breakdown of the bonds of marital cohabitation.Verified against the official source
• In the same deed they record their will to divorce.Verified against the official source
• No agreement for the liquidation, where applicable, of the sociedad de gananciales is needed.Verified against the official source
• Nor is it needed to provide for custody, patria potestad, support, filial relations and hogar seguro for the minors, if any.Verified against the official source
• If there are minor children of the marriage and no stipulation on those matters, the ex-spouses must file the corresponding action in court.Verified against the official source

• The public deed recording the irreparable breakdown of the bonds of marital cohabitation and the will to divorce.
• The record that the previous article’s situation is met, which is the gateway to this route.

1. 1

   Step 1: Start from the previous article’s situation

   Article 474 opens by saying "in the situation contemplated in the previous article".

2. 2

   Step 2: Both appear before a notary

   To record in a public deed the irreparable breakdown of the bonds of marital cohabitation.

3. 3

   Step 3: And their will to divorce

   The article asks for both in the same deed: the breakdown and the will.

4. 4

   Step 4: No need to liquidate the gananciales

   The text expressly exempts subscribing the liquidation agreement, where applicable.

5. 5

   Step 5: Nor to stipulate on the minors

   Custody, patria potestad, support, filial relations and hogar seguro stay out of the deed.

6. 6

   Step 6: But afterwards you must go to court

   With minor children and no stipulation, the ex-spouses must file the corresponding action in court.

Article 474 does not define an irreparable breakdown of the bonds of marital cohabitation: it requires no proof, fixes no prior separation period and describes nothing to establish before the notary. Nor does it say which of the two ex-spouses must file the court action, within what time, before which court, or what follows if neither files it. It does not explain what happens meanwhile to the unliquidated sociedad de gananciales, nor whether that pending liquidation has a term. And it publishes no tariff, fee or term. The rules common to both notarial routes — when the tie is dissolved, notice to the Registro Demográfico, effect against third parties, ganancial immovables and the case of an incapacitated person — live in Article 475 and this site covers them separately. None of those gaps is filled here.

• Believing this route waives the residence year: it starts from the situation the previous article contemplates.
• Thinking not liquidating the gananciales erases them: they stay pending, they do not vanish.
• Believing that with minors court can be skipped: the Code says the ex-spouses must file the action.
• Leaving the court action for "when needed": the article fixes no term, and that does not make it optional.
• Assuming only one of the two is bound to file it: the text speaks of the ex-spouses.
• Looking in the article for what proves the irreparable breakdown: it requires none and defines none.
• Taking a prior separation period for granted: the article does not require one.
• Forgetting that ganancial immovables still need a public deed or final judgment, per Article 475.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov