Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Your first step is to contact a real estate agent in Puerto Rico. They will know far more about what you have to do to sell property there than any California lawyer. I used to be a V.P. with the parent company of Fidelity National Title Ins. Co., and I know they provide title and escrow services in Puerto Rico. Between the real estate agent and the title company, they will know whether you have to appoint an attorney-in-fact (that's what you call a person who holds your power of attorney). I know that in most, if not all states, you do not have to be physically present or have a representative physically present in the state of sale. You can execute all documents in your home state and send them to escrow in the state where the property is located. If you use a nationwide title and escrow company, such as FNTIC, that makes the process easier, since they can arrange for you to deal with a local office near your home to facilitate the transaction. I can't say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that the same is true for sale of a property in Puerto Rico, and you can just do it without an attorney-in-fact. As for taxes, I'm not sure how the state taxes will be handled, whether you will have to pay any taxes in Puerto Rico, and what taxes you will have to pay in California. On the IRS level, however, I am pretty certain that because Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, the transaction is taxed like a sale in any U.S. state. Since you inherited the property, your tax basis is the value of the property at the time you inherited it. You may have to get a retrospective appraisal to find out what that value was if the property was not valued at the time of your grandfather's death. You will then pay capital gains tax, not income tax, on whatever the difference is between that value and what you sell it for, less your transaction costs, and less any depreciable improvements you made to the property, such as additions, new structures, and renovations, but not general maintenance costs. You will need to talk to a good tax accountant for further details on the tax issues.

I basically agree with Mr. McCormick's answer. I doubt that you will need to give a power of attorney to anyone. A licensed real estate broker should be able to handle the advertising and sale of the property, including basic steps to comply with local laws. Ask the broker about Puerto Rico taxes in advance. Some broker information can be obtained on line; for example, in a Google search I turned up:

http://www.alamode.com/DirectoryGenerator/Agent_PuertoRico.htm

and

http://www.isnappraisal.net/appraisal-cities/PR/17439/Maunabo-appraisals_2.htm

Google searching is difficult here since a high percentage of the responses or hits are very generic and not useful. However, the above two links MIGHT be helpful. Good luck!