Settling a dispute: in writing, and never over future support

They are Articles 1501 to 1504 of the Civil Code of 2020: what happens with an arithmetic error, what may not be settled, in what form the settlement must be recorded, and when it is invalid.

People about to sign or who already signed a transaction governed by the Puerto Rico Civil Code.

• The transaction must be recorded in a writing signed by the parties or in a resolution or judgement issued by the court.Verified against the official source
• If it concerns rights constituted by public deed, that same formality is required.Verified against the official source
• It may not include clauses on mandatory laws, non-waivable rights, future support, or relationships or rights that are not strictly patrimonial.Verified against the official source
• Arithmetic errors do not cause nullity, but the parties may obtain the corresponding rectification.Verified against the official source

• The writing signed by the parties, or the court resolution or judgement recording the transaction.
• The public deed, if the transaction concerns rights constituted by that formality.
• The titles included: three of the five grounds of invalidity in Article 1504 turn on them.

1. 1

   Step 1: A bad sum does not topple the agreement

   Article 1501: arithmetic errors do not cause the nullity of the transaction, but the parties may obtain the corresponding rectification. It is corrected, not voided. The Code does not say who rectifies or how, and this guide does not describe it.

2. 2

   Step 2: What may not be settled: mandatory laws and non-waivable rights

   Article 1502, first limb: it may not include clauses related to mandatory laws or non-waivable rights. The Code defines neither category here, and this guide does not fill them with content.

3. 3

   Step 3: Nor future support

   The same article names it expressly: nor with future support. It is the article’s most concrete prohibition and the one most worth knowing before signing a family agreement.

4. 4

   Step 4: Nor anything not strictly patrimonial

   Closing of 1502: nor with any relationship or right that is not strictly patrimonial. It is the article’s widest limb, and the one that leaves most agreements out without the parties noticing.

5. 5

   Step 5: The form: a signed writing, or a court ruling

   Article 1503: the transaction must be recorded in a writing signed by the parties or in a resolution or judgement issued by the court. Two routes, and a spoken agreement is neither.

6. 6

   Step 6: And a public deed if the right had one

   The same article: if it concerns rights constituted by public deed, that formality is required. The transaction’s form follows that of the right being settled.

7. 7

   Step 7: And the consequence of not complying

   The last sentence of the first paragraph: failure to observe these rules makes it null. It is not an evidentiary requirement; it is one of validity.

8. 8

   Step 8: Payment in full settlement: the Code refers out without saying where

   Second paragraph of 1503: payment in full settlement has the effects the law establishes. The article does not say which law that is. We did not read it for this guide, so no such effect is described here and no norm is named.

9. 9

   Step 9: Five grounds of invalidity, on top of the general ones

   Article 1504: besides the causes that invalidate every juridical act. That opening matters: the five that follow add to the general ones, which live elsewhere in the Code and are not reproduced here.

10. 10

    Step 10: The first: the facts were not what they thought

    Subsection (a): where the situation giving rise to it does not correspond to the real facts and the litigation or uncertainty would not have appeared had the real situation been known. Two joined conditions: different facts, and that with the real ones there would have been no dispute.

11. 11

    Step 11: Three grounds that look at the titles

    Subsections (b), (c) and (d): where it includes totally or partially non-existent titles; where it includes titles over which it is unknown that a better one exists; and where it includes aspects over which it is unknown that they are already resolved by a final judgement. All three penalise settling over what was not known.

12. 12

    Step 12: And the fifth: an uncertain prestation

    Subsection (e): where the effectiveness of a prestation is uncertain. The Code puts it that way, with no further precision, and this guide adds no criteria.

13. 13

    Step 13: What these articles do not carry

    They do not define future support, non-waivable rights or mandatory laws; do not say who rectifies the arithmetic error or how; set no period to seek the rectification or to attack the transaction; and do not describe the effects of payment in full settlement. None of that is here.

The agreement is signed between the parties, or recorded in a resolution or judgement issued by the court. If it concerns rights constituted by public deed, a notary executes it. Disputes over validity or rectification are decided by the Court of First Instance. The Code names no agency for this chapter.

• Closing a transaction verbally: Article 1503 makes it null if not in writing or in a court ruling.
• Forgetting the public deed where the settled right was constituted with that formality.
• Including clauses on future support, which Article 1502 expressly forbids.
• Settling something that is not strictly patrimonial.
• Including non-waivable rights or matters governed by mandatory laws.
• Believing an arithmetic error voids the whole agreement: it is rectified.
• Signing over titles without checking they exist and that no better one exists.
• Settling aspects already resolved by a final judgement without knowing it.
• Forgetting that the five grounds of Article 1504 add to the general ones for any juridical act.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov