If you have forced heirs, you may freely dispose of only half your goods

They are Articles 1621 to 1624 of the Civil Code of 2020: what the legítima is, who the forced heirs are, how much the decedent may freely dispose of, and where the Code points to calculate each portion.

Whoever is going to make a will in Puerto Rico and wants to know what part they may divide freely, and whoever believes a law-reserved share is due to them.

• The legítima is the part of the inheritance the law reserves for the legitimarios.Verified against the official source
• The legitimarios are the descendants, the surviving spouse and, failing these, the ascendants.Verified against the official source
• The decedent who has legitimarios may freely dispose of half their goods.Verified against the official source
• If they have no legitimarios, they may freely dispose of all their goods.Verified against the official source

• The will, if any: from it comes what was disposed within the free-disposition share.
• Whatever establishes each possible forced heir’s kinship with the decedent.
• The inventory of the decedent’s goods: the half of Article 1623 is measured on them.

1. 1

   Step 1: What the legítima is

   Article 1621: the part of the inheritance the law reserves for determined persons, called legitimarios. The law makes the reservation, not the will.

2. 2

   Step 2: Who the forced heirs are

   Article 1622: the descendants, the surviving spouse and, failing these, the ascendants.

3. 3

   Step 3: Where “failing these” falls

   The phrase comes before the ascendants’ item. This guide reports the order exactly as the article writes it and does not rank items (a) and (b) against each other beyond that.

4. 4

   Step 4: The free half

   Article 1623: the decedent who has legitimarios may freely dispose of half their goods. It is the only figure this chapter carries.

5. 5

   Step 5: And if there are no forced heirs

   The same article: they may freely dispose of all their goods. With no forced heirs there is no legítima to reserve.

6. 6

   Step 6: How much each one gets

   Article 1624: the legitimarios concur in the legitimate portion using the rules of concurrence and order of exclusion established for the intestate succession.

7. 7

   Step 7: And why this guide does not tell you

   Because those rules are in another Title of the Code, not read for this guide. Here you have the half of Article 1623 and no per-person fraction: we do not invent it.

8. 8

   Step 8: What this chapter does not settle either

   It does not say how or as of when the goods are valued, nor whether lifetime donations count against the half. None of that is in these four articles.

These four articles describe no procedure before any agency and do not mention the court: they fix a legal reservation. The will before a notary and the declaration of heirs have their own guides on this site.

• Believing one may divide one hundred per cent of the goods when there are forced heirs: Article 1623 leaves half free.
• Thinking the testator decides the legítima: Article 1621 says the law reserves it.
• Forgetting the surviving spouse among the forced heirs: Article 1622 names them expressly.
• Taking for granted that ascendants are always forced heirs: item (c) is preceded by “failing these”.
• Looking in this chapter for how much each forced heir gets: Article 1624 sends it to the intestate succession.
• Assuming that with no forced heirs a reserved part still exists: Article 1623 leaves everything free.
• Believing the Code says here how the goods are valued: it does not.
• Taking for granted that lifetime donations count against the half: these articles do not address it.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov