Although you absolutely might not need an attorney to obtain a divorce in Puerto Rico, it’s always a good idea to retain one for the financial repercussions a divorce may entail.

A couple with no children, no properties, no substantial debs, that have married relatively recently, who get along, could obtain a divorce by just filing a Mutual Consent Petition on their own. All they would need is to print the form, fill it out and file it in the nearest Superior Court. In just a few weeks, the court will notify them of a hearing, to which they will both appear before a judge, and in 30 days, continue with their lives just as they had before getting married.

On the other hand, the inherent complications of child custody, child support and visitation rights of the non-custodial parent, real estate property divisions, and debt distributions of the Marital Communal Property between both spouses are best left to a competent professional. A couple that gets along pretty well, is able to sit down and converse in a civilized and orderly way, and is able to reach an agreement and follow through on it on all the details of their separation is certainly able to divide both properties and debts in common. On the contrary, when both disagree the repercussions of hurriedly negotiating with the other spouse, or agreeing to all the terms the other spouse offers just to “get it out of the way” can have dire consequences which may last many years.

For these reasons, hiring a competent specialized attorney who has dealt with divorce matters before is always good practice. In general, due to the complexity of a divorce, this legal matter requires certain attributes you should look for before hiring legal counsel. Usually, clients prefer an aggressive and pushy lawyer. During a divorce, it is best to be both strong and flexible, and willing to reach sensible agreements along the way, as well as setting smaller milestones along the negotiation process. An inflexible and obstinate attorney will hinder the free flow of these negotiations, and in divorce cases this seemingly trivial minutia may stalwart the complete process.

Deciding who gets the house might be easy, but choosing who gets the CD collection or the pets might prove harder to divide.

It’s always better to settle these details outside of court, instead of clogging the already heavily taxed legal system with the small stuff. After all, fighting over everything just delays the inevitable. The ideal divorce attorney needs to be both litigator and negotiator, can listen to the other party’s demands as well as defend his client’s, is able to establish a dialogue, can take the first step towards reaching out, but at the same time be willing to fight for his client’s rights in court.

Being flexible is the best attribute of a good divorce attorney.

Custody and Child Support are also best dealt with outside of court, since children never benefit from a draw out battle between parents. Having to deal with a divorce on their own is hard enough, and exposing them to a rigid and impersonal legal system may leave lifelong emotional scars. Another good example of how reaching an out of court settlement is a good idea is when running businesses are involved. A running business can’t just stop, divide, and then continue. It can’t close for a few months while the court decides who gets what. Besides harming the business irreparably, why shut down a perfectly successful business while the divorce is decided on, when both spouses can benefit from the same business?

This is exactly why finding a good lawyer is so important. An experienced attorney, with a flexible but objective attitude to negotiate will guarantee that you lifelong labor won’t come crumbling down just because you’re going through a divorce. After all, life keeps going, and so can you. Why not keep going better than when you married?

 For a Spanish version of this article, please click here.

This is the first article in a series titled “Divorce Preparation in Puerto Rico”. Throughout the next few days, we will explore a series of general guidelines and suggestions that will help anyone who is considering, or has decided, to divorce his or her spouse.

I’d like to take a moment to say that in no way am I promoting getting a divorce as the only means of fixing a faulty marriage. In no way should these suggestions be misconstrued into thinking that at the first sign of marital tribulations should a couple run out and divorce each other without seeking emotional or spiritual counsel.

But, if you are already past this point, and the only, or best, solution to deal with your marital problems is to seek a divorce, then you shouldn’t feel alone. Perhaps this decision is one of the hardest you’ve ever taken, maybe it will take years of rebuilding, both emotionally and economically to get back where you were before. But above all this, the decision needs to be well thought out, calmly and rationally.

The end of your marriage is by no means the end of your life.

Each day, millions of people all throughout the world take control of their lives, their careers, their children and their well-being just by making the decision to divorce their spouse.

Rebuilding your life shouldn’t be done hurriedly, and neither should your divorce. It may look like the end, but it will most likely be the beginning of a new chapter in your life, and will require direction, counseling, and careful planning.

The most important part of a divorce should be to protect what’s yours: you profession, your children, your financial assets and your health. With proper planning, you can protect all of them. The only thing you need is a plan, a map, a compass, a guide. The seemingly tumultuous beginnings of a divorce may turn soothingly calm if everything is done correctly from the start.

Anyone can get a divorce, but not everyone can get a good divorce. Getting a good divorce requires a series of steps, and that is exactly what this series is about. In the next few days, we’ll take an imaginary hypothetical trip through the beginnings of a divorce.

I cite as sources several websites, but primarily the Alabama Family Law Blog by Ben Sherman. I’ve taken his tips and guidelines, and given them a Puertorrican twist, with a strong dash of our local laws and legal proceedings.

Finally, I’d like to dedicate these articles to my mentor: Lcda. Edna I. Santiago Pérez, who through her teachings, coaching and guidance taught me that there’s nothing as important as family. Thank you!!

For a Spanish version of this article, please click here.

Estamos de fiesta porque nuestro Google Page Rank® subió de 3 a 4.

Esto significa, entre otras cosas, que nuestra página es la segunda página de internet sobre Derecho y Leyes en Puerto Rico más visitada, después de Lexjuris, según un estudio independiente realizado recientemente.

Considerando que BoricuaLaw lleva online desde el 2007, y Lexjuris lleva registrada desde el 1998, y su Page Rank® es de 5, es muchísima más razón para celebrar. No hubiésemos logrado tanto éxito sin el apoyo de ustedes, nuestros lectores.

¡Gracias a todos los que visitan nuestra página!

El BoricuaLaw BlogRadar® (sí, estoy en proceso de patentizarlo), ha detectado la presencia de otro blog legal en la blogosfera puertorriqueña.

Se trata de Abogados Laborales, y es creación del Lcdo. Alex Fleming y la Lcda. Carmen Maldonado.

Les damos la más cordial bienvenida a ambos a la escena bloguera legal puertorriqueña, aunque el Lcdo. Fleming lleva más tiempo en ella que muchos otros publicando en otro blog, Doing Business in Puerto Rico.

Personalmente, agradezco la llegada de un blog sobre derecho laboral, tanto por su necesidad, como por su aportación de información sobre este tema tan concurrido. Sé que me servirá a mi, tanto como a los lectores del mismo como fuente de información útil, y como referencia para cualquier asunto sobre Derecho Laboral en Puerto Rico.

Recuerde visitarlo en www.AbogadosLaborales.com.

Esta semana una madre me preguntó si podía irse de Puerto Rico:

A. Sin aún divorciarse, con sus dos hijos, y sin que el padre de los menores lo supiera.

B. Si habrían repercusiones legales por hacerlo.

Después de reponerme de la pregunta y todo lo que pensé que podría ir mal con esta situación, le conteste lo siguiente:

Irse de Puerto Rico con menores, sin que el otro padre lo sepa es malísima idea. Para empezar, si el padre que se marcha con el menor no tiene custodia legítima del menor según dispuesto por el Tribunal, podría ser Privación Ilegal de Custodia (Art. 135, Código Penal) lo cual es un delito grave de cuarto grado.

En segundo lugar, podría incurrir en desacato a una orden del tribunal, tal como disponga el decreto de custodia del menor, o las órdenes de relaciones paterno-filiales (o materno-filiales) vigentes al momento de marcharse.

Estas disposiciones son a discresión del padre que no consintió a la remoción de los menores de la jurisdicción de Puerto Rico. Quizás al padre no le importe, pero si le importa, podría solicitar el regreso de los menores a Puerto Rico, por virtud del Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA). El PKPA no dispone que sería un delito remover a un menor de la jurisdicción sin el consentimiento del otro padre, pero sí le brinda reciprocidad a las determinaciones de custodia de una jurisdicción en otra.

En adición, al momento de evaluar la viabilidad del padre que se llevó los menores en una vista de custodia, luce malísimo que por desespero, irreflexión o falta de razonabilidad se intente sacar a los menores de Puerto Rico sin que se sepa. Esto demuestra furtividad, y no es una medida “prudente y razonable”. Un Tribunal podría remover a los menores de la custodia de su madre porque no actuó por el mejor bienestar de los menores, sino del suyo propio.

Así que la contestación es mixta: sí, se pueden llevar a los menores de Puerto Rico sin que el padre se entere, pero también hay repercusiones legales por hacerlo.

It’s been more than a year since I started blogging, and I’ve realized that of the over 15,000 attorneys in Puerto Rico, only a handful of us have blogs.

Why is that?

Mario Nuñez recently gathered a list of blawgs for his Derecho 2.0 blog. Mario isn’t an attorney, but is fascinated with the capabilities that Web 2.0 has for dispersing information. His magnificent blogging projects are listed on his webpage Vida Digital and DigiZen

Here’s the list:

• BoricuaLaw by Christian Frank Fas

• Doing Business in Puerto Rico by Robert Alex Fleming

• Impericia Médica by José Fernando Velázquez

• Puerto Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

• Debido proceso de Ley by Rolando Emmanuelli Jiménez

• MortisCausa by Christian Frank Fas

Can you believe that there are only 6 blawgs listed? And 2 of them are mine?!

I’ll add a couple more to the list:

• Sus Preguntas de Inmigración by Fernando O. Zambrana

• Blog del Lcdo. Hugo Arana Torrós by Hugo Arana Torrós

If a Puerto Rico Legal Blog Convention was to be held today, and a panel of all the bloggers came to attendance, we wouldn’t fill up a small classroom. We’re in dire need of more legal bloggers. I’m sure that a few of my fellow attorneys that regularly read this webpage, and that have subscribed to the E-mail or RSS feed are excellent writers, and have plenty to share with both the general and legal community.

Go ahead! Start your blog NOW!

Do like I did, go over to Blogger or TypePad or Wordpress and start writing your day to day meanderings, or your insight to your cases, or anything that comes to mind. We all benefit from your input, and there’s enough room on the Internet to share, but please, clear your agenda for 10 minutes a day, and compose a paragraph of anything legal. You’ll thank me for it, and even if you don’t thank me, you’ll be much happier in the end.

Un buen día, llega el emplazador a la puerta de mi casa. Me entrega un emplazamiento y una demanda, y se marcha. Dice que mi esposo se quiere divorciar por Trato Cruel, y que yo le hice toda una gama de cosas horripilantes.

¿Qué hago ahora?

El emplazamiento es el requisito primordial de notificación de cualquier demanda civil. Es la forma en que el sistema judicial se encarga de informar a quienes están envueltos en una demanda, y les pide que aparezcan ante un tribunal dentro de un término de tiempo.

Desde el día en que uno es emplazado, se tienen 20 días para contestar la demanda. Si el emplazado está en los Estados Unidos, o fuera de Puerto Rico, o si se emplazó por edicto, se tienen 30 días para contestar la demanda. (32 L.P.R.A. Ap. III R. 10.1)

Desde ese momento en adelante, la comparecencia ante el tribunal es compulsoria. Si uno no comparece luego de ser emplazado, el tribunal podrá decidir el caso completo en mi contra sin escuchar mi versión de los hechos, y no podré levantar las defensas que la ley me concede ante cualquier demanda.

Es importantísimo que luego de ser emplazado, busque asesoría legal. El tiempo para contestar es corto, y mientras más tiempo tenga su abogado, mejor será su contestación.

I’d like to thank Astrid Mangual for her comment regarding this topic on www.BoricuaLaw.com, which has prompted me to write about this complex relationship between a testamentary civilist jurisdiction such as Puerto Rico, and Common Law Wills such as those drafted and probated in the United States or elsewhere.

First off, let’s start by stating that there is no such thing as “probate” in Puerto Rico. Wills must comply with such strict legal and notary guidelines that our Civil Code has practically replaced the need for a probate procedure. No legal procedure is necessary for the estate to be partitioned amongst all the heirs if they all convene on how to do so. Unless an executor (”albacea” in Spanish) is designated, the testament itself is enough to transmit the ownership of the totality of the estate to the heirs. With a valid testament, heirs can partition the estate as they see fit.

If by this time you’re asking how creditors are protected if probate doesn’t exist here, know that heirs personally owe all the debts incurred by the deceased if they accept their inheritance. Estates are also tax exempt in Puerto Rico up to $1,000,000.00, so in most cases, estates are tax-free.

Our Civil Code establishes that a testament drafted outside of Puerto Rico must comply with the law of where it is drafted to be valid. If the testament is valid where drafted, it is valid here (31 L.P.R.A. § 2221), just as long as it complies with our local law regarding the institution of heirs in thirds, and does not contain any illegal disposition. If the testament has been probated, then perhaps the best way to apply its distribution of the estate is through an exequatur procedure. But remember, even if valid in another jurisdiction, and legally probated, it must comply with Puerto Rico’s testamentary law.

While in Common Law jurisdictions the disposition of the testator is paramount, in most Civilist jurisdictions, the inclusion of descendants is protected. In Puerto Rico, a third of the estate must be reserved for the “forceful” heirs. A will that leaves the totality of the estate to the surviving spouse must be treated as intestate for the “strict legitimate third”, and the rest of the will is valid as to whatever properties are left to be bequeathed. In order to disinherit a “forceful” heir in Puerto Rico, the testator must expressly exclude the heir in a valid will, and only by applying a cause specified in our Civil Code.

So, to sum up this complex partly intestate partition, the birth of a mixed estate partition may usually require a Declaration of Heirs in order to divide the estate left in Puerto Rico.

Thus, the conditioned treatment of a stateside or foreign will, be it probated or un-probated will must comply with Puertorrican law. If part of the estate that is to be treated as intestate, a Declaration of Heirs is mandatory for that portion of the estate. The remaining two thirds of the estate is to be distributed according to however the foreign will disposes.

As a growing number of expatriates begin to claim their parent’s estates in Puerto Rico, those who expect the estate to be partitioned exactly as their testator wished the estate to be divided amongst his or her heirs, face the sometimes uncomfortable truth that estate partitions in Puerto Rico are completely different from their familiar laws.

Again, thank you Astrid for such an interesting topic that I’ve barely scratched here, so feel free to comment and ask about anything that I’ve written today.

To petition for a Declaration of Heirs in Puerto Rico, the first step is to verify if the deceased did not leave any testament among his or her personal items. After a thorough search of the deceased’s documents, the next step is to apply for a Negative Will Certification from the Puerto Rico Testament Registry (Certificación Negativa de Testamento del Registro de Testamentos de Puerto Rico in Spanish).

This Registry is mandatory for any will drafted by a Public Notary in Puerto Rico, and in order to verify that the deceased did not draft a will, this Certification is necessary to petition for a Declaration of Heirs.

The Certificacion can be solicited by:

Oficina de Inspección de Notarías
Registro de Poderes y Testamentos
PO Box 190860
San Juan, Puerto Rico 00919-0860

Once you obtain the Certification, the process to petition the Declaration of Heirs can begin.

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to download the application, click here to get it:

If I die, can my cat Fluffy inherit all my fortune?

In Puerto Rico, instead of regarding the intentions of the testator as paramount, the inclusion of forced heirs is protected under our inheritance laws. While in Common Law jurisdictions, such as most of the United States, the final dispositions of the testator are protected, the inclusion of the forced heirs is necessary for a will to have complete validity. Although a will where the forced heirs are not included is not completely invalidated, a portion of the estate must be set aside for them to inherit in preferential order. That means that forced heirs get to inherit first, and anyone else named in the will as heir must wait in line until after they have received their birthright.

What is a Forced Heir?

Forced heirs are defined by our Civil Code article 736 (31 L.P.R.A. § 2362), and are all the descendants of the testator. In plain English, descendants are all the offspring, be it born within or outside of matrimony, designated by birth from the testator to infinity. In other words, great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren are forced heirs.

If the testator does not leave behind any descendants, then the forced heirs are his ascendants. Ascendants are the parents, grandparents and great-grandparents of the testator, and are divided into two separate lines: the father’s side and the mother’s side. Any one ascendant that survives a testator without descendants must be named as an heir in a testament.

If the testator does not have any descendants or ascendants, then he or she has no forced heirs, and can leave everything within his or her estate to whomever he or she pleases, according to our Civil Code article 692 (31 L.P.R.A. § 2281).

The purpose of forced heirship in Civilist jurisdictions, such as our own, is to keep the estate within a single family, and to provide a means of economic sustenance by inheritance. This, in turn, aids in the distribution of wealth between families, and prevents the government from having to provide welfare to someone who might be disinherited impulsively.

Even without forced heirs, the testator must leave his or her estate to a person, be it a natural person such as a human, or to a legal entity as a non-profit organization. Animals, such as cat, cannot inherit in Puerto Rico.

Fluffy might be one thing that loves me the most in this world, but unfortunately, I cannot name him as sole heir in my estate. Hey, I could set up a trust fund to take care of Fluffy, but that would be a whole other topic to write about further on…