Inherited property in Puerto Rico
How long does the declaratoria de herederos take in Puerto Rico, and what does it cost?
The declaratoria de herederos runs through one of two routes: before an attorney-notary, under Act 282-1999, when every heir agrees, or before the Court of First Instance. The law sets no deadline; with complete documents the notarial route is measured in weeks, and the court route depends on the courtroom, with extra months if a notice has to be published. Official costs are low: a $78 court fee for the petition, $5 stamps per certificate and $10 for the death certificate; attorney fees vary by notary. Then come the estate return and the Hacienda relevo. We advance those costs once a purchase agreement is signed.
Key takeaways
- Two routes: before a notary (Act 282-1999), only when nobody disputes and everyone cooperates, or before the Court of First Instance. The notarial route is usually the shorter one; the court route is what remains when there is a dispute or an heir cannot be found.
- Official costs you can check: a $78 court fee for the petition, $5 in stamps for each ODIN certificate, $10 for the death certificate, $5 for each birth certificate and a $25 voucher with the Hacienda estate return. The attorney-notary's fees vary by notary.
- The declaratoria is not enough to sell: afterwards the estate return must be filed (within nine months of death) and you wait for the Hacienda relevo, which Hacienda itself says it issues in 30 days under normal circumstances. With a signed agreement we advance all those costs and deduct them at closing.
What are the two routes for requesting the declaratoria de herederos?
Before an attorney-notary, as an uncontested matter under Act 282-1999, when every heir cooperates and nobody disputes; or before the Court of First Instance of the deceased's last domicile, or where their property is, with a sworn petition. Both produce the same result: a document stating who inherits from someone who died without a will.
Act 282-1999 authorizes the notary to process the declaratoria de herederos (article 2) and requires them to stop if a controversy or opposition arises between parties with a legitimate interest, or if the matter is already in court (article 6). If there are minors or incapacitated persons among the heirs, the notary notifies the Public Prosecutor and waits thirty days without opposition before continuing (article 8). That is why the notarial route is only for families that agree.
The court route is the one described by the Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly in its brochure and by Ayuda Legal PR in its guide: a sworn petition before an attorney-notary or at the court clerk's office, with the documents attached, and usually no hearing if everything is complete. The documents are the same on both routes: death certificate, negative will certificate, negative certificate of uncontested matters, birth certificates of the heirs and, if the deceased was married, the marriage certificate. What the declaratoria is and what it is for is explained in our declaratoria guide.
How long does the declaratoria take on each route?
No law sets a deadline. Before a notary, with complete documents and everyone signing, the process is measured in weeks: the law only imposes notices to the Registry of Notarial Matters within 72 working hours at the start and the end. In court it depends on the courtroom; if a missing heir has to be notified by publication, count months.
What does have a timeline are the pieces. ODIN certificates and Demographic Registry certificates are requested separately and each takes days to weeks; most of the delays we see come from there, from a name spelled differently on two papers or a certificate nobody requested. On the notarial route, if collateral relatives inherit (siblings, nieces and nephews) and the estate exceeds $5,000, Rule 99 requires publishing a notice and waiting fifteen days for anyone with an equal or better right to come forward.
In court, an heir who cannot be located is notified by publication with the court's authorization, and the process continues if they do not respond within the term; a Puerto Rico appeals court confirmed it in 2024. Once issued, the court ruling is binding on the Property Registry: the Supreme Court held in 2026 that the Registrar cannot set aside a declaratoria issued by a court. If an heir lives away, they sign by power of attorney; see selling from the States.
What does the declaratoria de herederos cost?
Official costs are modest and paid in internal revenue stamps: $78 for the court petition, $5 for the negative will certificate, $5 for the uncontested-matters certificate, $10 for the death certificate and $5 for each birth certificate. What weighs most is the attorney-notary's fee, and that varies by notary.
The $78 fee for the Petición de Declaratoria de Herederos appears in the Puerto Rico Judiciary's fee schedule, approved by the Supreme Court in Resolution ER-2015-1; certified copies cost $0.60 per additional page. ODIN certificates cost $5 in stamps each (forms OAT-1572 and OAT-1656, or OAT-1822 for recording data on an acta already authorized), and Ayuda Legal PR details the $10 death certificate and the $5 birth certificates in its checklist.
On the notarial route the court fee is not paid, but article 13 of Act 282-1999 requires paying the notarial tariff in internal revenue stamps and notarial tax stamps, plus $5 for each Registry certificate. If there is a published notice, the requester pays it and the newspaper sets the price. And professional fees, the big item, vary by notary: ask for the breakdown in writing before anything is filed. We do not publish fee figures because they are not ours.
What do the estate return and the Hacienda relevo add?
The declaratoria says who inherits; it does not let you sell. Afterwards the Planilla de Caudal Relicto must be filed through SURI within nine months of death, with a $25 voucher and a CRIM certificate, and then you wait for the relevo, which Hacienda says it issues in 30 days under normal circumstances. Without it, the sale is not valid.
Hacienda describes it on its inheritance pages: the return is filed on or before nine months from death (270 days, says its brochure), with the death certificate, a $25 internal revenue voucher and a CRIM certificate on the property's debt. Since December 10, 2018 the whole process, including the relevo request, is done through SURI. Once the return is reviewed, the Inheritance and Gifts Section issues the Certificación de Gravamen, the relevo, which the brochure says is issued in 30 days under normal circumstances.
That relevo is what the notary needs to authorize the deed and what the Property Registry requires together with the declaratoria. A Puerto Rico appeals court confirmed in 2024 that a sale made without the relevo is not valid. If the house owes CRIM, a conditional relevo is requested and the debt is paid from the price at closing. The whole return-and-relevo process is in our guide Hacienda relevo, and the full roadmap in selling an inherited house.
How does Borinquen Collab Group advance those costs?
When every heir agrees, we sign a purchase agreement conditioned on the succession being completed, with the written offer in 24 hours and good for 7 days. With that signed agreement we advance the stamps, court fees, certificates, the Hacienda voucher and the attorney-notary's fees, and deduct them from the price at closing, itemized on paper.
The order never changes: first the list of what is missing, then the declaratoria, then the estate return and the relevo, and last the deed and the recording. The price stays fixed while the court, ODIN and Hacienda work, and closing is scheduled in 45 to 60 days or as soon as the succession allows. We charge no commission, and the house's debts (CRIM, water, power, mortgage) are paid from the price at closing before the heirs split the rest.
What we need from you is little: the names, the papers you already have and the address or the catastro number. If there are several siblings and one hesitates, read what happens if an heir will not sign and multiple heirs first; if everyone is on board, write to us and we tell you what is missing for the declaratoria the same business day.
Official costs and timelines of the declaratoria and the steps that follow
| Item | How much or when | Who charges or sets it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Declaratoria de herederos petition in court | $78 fee (internal revenue stamps) | Court of First Instance, Resolution ER-2015-1 | Puerto Rico Judiciary fee schedule |
| Negative will certificate | $5 in internal revenue stamps (code 5120) | ODIN, Registry of Powers and Wills (OAT-1572) | Ayuda Legal PR |
| Negative certificate of uncontested matters before a notary | $5 in internal revenue stamps | ODIN, General Registry of Notarial Matters (OAT-1656 / OAT-1822) | Form OAT-1822; Ayuda Legal PR |
| Death certificate | $10 in internal revenue stamps | Demographic Registry | Ayuda Legal PR, checklist |
| Birth certificate for each heir | $5 in stamps each | Demographic Registry | Ayuda Legal PR, checklist |
| Certified copies of the ruling | $0.60 per additional page | Court clerk | Puerto Rico Judiciary fee schedule |
| Attorney-notary fees | Vary by notary; the notarial tariff is paid in stamps | Each notary; Act 282-1999, art. 13 | Act 282-1999 |
| Notice when collateral relatives inherit and the estate exceeds $5,000 (notarial route) | One publication in a general-circulation newspaper, paid by the requester; 15 days to claim | Rule 99 of the Act 282 rules | Supreme Court, Act 282 rules |
| Notice to the Registry of Notarial Matters (notarial route) | Within 72 working hours at the start and at the end of the acta | Notary; Act 282-1999, art. 5 | Act 282-1999 |
| Estate return (Planilla de Caudal Relicto) | Within nine months (270 days) of death; $25 voucher; filed through SURI | Puerto Rico Treasury (Hacienda) | hacienda.pr.gov; inheritance brochure; CC RI 18-19 |
| Hacienda relevo (Certificación de Gravamen) | Issued in 30 days under normal circumstances, after the return is reviewed | Hacienda, Inheritance and Gifts Section | Hacienda inheritance brochure |
Official figures published by the Puerto Rico Judiciary, ODIN, Ayuda Legal PR and Hacienda as of October 30, 2026. Attorney and notary fees are not listed because they vary by notary; the attorney-notary confirms them before filing.
What we do not do
We are not attorneys and do not give legal or tax advice, and we do not prepare the declaratoria: an attorney-notary does. We do not promise a date the court, ODIN or Hacienda will not allow, and we do not publish fee figures because they vary by notary. What we do is tell you which step the process is on, gather what is missing and pay each item when it is due, with the receipt on paper.
Frequently asked questions
Before you request an offer
- ✓Full name of the deceased, date and place of death, and the town where they lived when they died.
- ✓Whether there was a will, or whether someone already requested the ODIN negative certificate.
- ✓Marital status at death: married, widowed, divorced or single, and the spouse's name if there was one.
- ✓List of children, including those from other marriages and those who died earlier (their children inherit in their place).
- ✓The house address or the CRIM parcel (catastro) number, and whether CRIM is owed.
- ✓Whether any heir lives outside Puerto Rico or cannot be located.
Let's talk about the house
Tell us the town, the name of the person who passed away, whether there was a will and how many heirs there are. We tell you which documents are missing for the declaratoria and which route makes sense, the same business day.
Back to the full guide: selling an inherited house in Puerto Rico
More inheritance articles
Sources
- Ayuda Legal PR: what the declaratoria de herederos is and how to request it (court or notary; $5 stamps per certificate)
- Ayuda Legal PR: checklist for declaratorias de herederos (death cert $10, birth cert $5, certificates $5)
- Puerto Rico Judiciary: court fee schedule, Resolution ER-2015-1 (declaratoria petition $78; copies $0.60 per extra page)
- Act 282-1999, uncontested matters before a notary (arts. 2, 5, 6, 8 and 13)
- Supreme Court: rules implementing the uncontested-matters-before-a-notary act (Rule 99, notice for collateral heirs)
- ODIN, form OAT-1822: certificate of uncontested matters before a notary ($5 in stamps)
- Office of the Ombudsman for the Elderly: brochure on the declaratoria de herederos (documents and where it is filed)
- Puerto Rico Treasury: estate return, Planilla de Caudal Relicto (nine months from death)
- Puerto Rico Treasury: steps to request the Certificación de Gravamen or relevo ($25 voucher, CRIM certificate)
- Puerto Rico Treasury: inheritance brochure (270 days to file; relevo issued in 30 days under normal circumstances)
- Internal Revenue Circular Letter 18-19: estate return and relevo only through SURI since December 10, 2018
- Court of Appeals, KLCE202400453 (2024): notice by publication to heirs who cannot be found
- Court of Appeals, KLAN202301023 (2024): sale without the relevo is not valid
- Supreme Court, 2026 TSPR 90: the Registrar cannot set aside a court-issued declaratoria de herederos
This is not legal or tax advice. It is general information so you understand the process; the advice comes from the attorney-notary who takes part in the transaction. Last reviewed: October 30, 2026.