In short
The Code sorts a will’s conditions by who controls them. Potestative ones depend on you; casual ones on chance. Article 1679 deals with the positive potestative one — do such a thing: it must be fulfilled, except when, already fulfilled, it cannot be repeated. If what the testator asked of you was already done and cannot be done twice, it counts as done. Article 1680 deals with the negative one — do not do such a thing — and brings the most useful rule of the three. You might think a lifelong prohibition forces you to wait a lifetime to collect, and it does not: the instituted person may receive the inheritance if they post a bond that they will not do or give what was forbidden and that, on contravention, they will return what they received with its fruits and interest. You receive now, secured. And the testator may dispense you even from that bond. Article 1681 deals with the casual condition, the one depending on an uncertain event. It may occur before the testator’s death or after, except when the testator provides otherwise. Its second paragraph is the one to read carefully, because it makes the outcome depend on what the testator knew the day they signed: the condition is held fulfilled when the testator is unaware, at the moment of execution, that the uncertain event has already occurred; if they know, the condition is held fulfilled only when it is of such a nature that it cannot occur again. The same event, already past, resolves two different ways depending on what the testator knew. What the article does not say is who proves that knowledge, and nothing is invented here.
What is it?
They are Articles 1679, 1680 and 1681 of the Civil Code of 2020: the condition ordering you to do something, the one forbidding it, and the one depending on chance, with the bond that lets you collect without waiting.
Who can do it?
Any heir or legatee whose will imposed a condition depending on their conduct or on an uncertain event.
Requirements
- The positive potestative condition must be fulfilled, except when, already fulfilled, it cannot be repeated.Verified against the official source
- Faced with a negative potestative condition, the instituted person may receive the inheritance by bonding that they will not do or give what was forbidden.Verified against the official source
- That bond covers returning what was received with its fruits and interest on contravention.Verified against the official source
- The testator may dispense the instituted person from the bond requirement.Verified against the official source
- The casual condition may be fulfilled before or after the testator’s death, unless they provide otherwise.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Check who controls the condition
If it depends on your conduct it is potestative; if on an uncertain event, casual. The Code uses both terms without defining them.
Step 2: If it orders you to do something
Article 1679: the positive potestative condition must be fulfilled.
Step 3: Unless you already did it and it cannot repeat
The same article excepts the case where, already fulfilled, it cannot be repeated.
Step 4: If it forbids you something, you do not wait
Article 1680: you may receive the inheritance by bonding that you will not do or give what was forbidden.
Step 5: And the bond covers the return
If you contravene, you return what you received with its fruits and interest. That is what the bond secures.
Step 6: The testator may remove the bond
The same article expressly allows it. If they did, you receive without securing anything.
Step 7: If it depends on chance, check when
Article 1681: it may occur before the testator’s death or after, unless they provide otherwise.
Step 8: If it already happened, ask what they knew
If the testator was unaware when executing, the condition is held fulfilled. If they knew, it is held fulfilled only when the event cannot occur again.
Where to do it
These articles describe no procedure before any agency. The Code does not say here who fixes the amount of Article 1680’s bond, who holds it, what happens if the instituted person cannot post one, or who proves what the testator knew under Article 1681. None of those gaps is filled here. If what you want are the general rules on suretyship as a contract, that subject has its own guides on this site.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
The costliest confusion is with the negative condition. If the will says “I leave the farm to my son provided he never sells it”, it looks as though the son would have to die to prove compliance, and that is not so: Article 1680 lets him receive the farm now, bonding that he will not sell it and that, if he does, he will return what he received with its fruits and interest. And if the testator dispensed with the bond, he receives without securing anything. If the condition is positive — do such a thing — Article 1679 requires fulfilling it, with one way out: that you had already fulfilled it and it cannot be done again. If the condition depends on chance, Article 1681 gives you room: it may occur before or after the death, unless the will says otherwise. And if the event had already occurred when the will was signed, the answer changes with what the testator knew: if unaware, the condition is held fulfilled; if they knew, it is held fulfilled only when the event cannot repeat. Who proves that knowledge the Code does not say, and this guide does not invent it. Nor does it say who fixes the bond’s amount or what happens if you cannot post one. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Believing a lifelong prohibition forces a lifelong wait: Article 1680 allows receiving against a bond.
- Thinking the bond is always compulsory: the same article lets the testator dispense with it.
- Forgetting what the bond covers: returning what was received with its fruits and interest.
- Treating as unfulfilled a positive condition you already met: Article 1679 excepts the one that cannot repeat.
- Assuming a casual condition counts only if it occurs after the death: Article 1681 admits before or after.
- Ignoring that the testator may close that door: the same article allows it if they provide otherwise.
- Treating alike an already-occurred event the testator was unaware of and one they knew: Article 1681 separates them.
- Looking in these articles for the definition of potestative or casual: they use them and do not define them.
Frequently asked questions
The will forbids me something. Must I wait to collect?
Article 1680 says you may receive the inheritance if you bond that you will not do or give what was forbidden and will return what you received on contravention.
Must that bond always be posted?
No. The same article says the testator may dispense the instituted person from the bond requirement.
I already did what the will asked before the death. Does it count?
Article 1679 excepts from the duty to fulfil a condition that, already fulfilled, cannot be repeated.
The event had already happened when the will was signed. What then?
Article 1681 holds it fulfilled if the testator was unaware; if they knew, only when the event cannot occur again.
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 12, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
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