Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Puerto Rico

Re: United States vs Puerto Rico Laws

Your question is simple, but it has no easy answer. The foremost bar to answering it is that the amount of detail is not sufficient to grasp the whole controversy. It is particularly fact-intensive because the intestate statute may not apply in this instance, depending several matters. Additionally, if the person was married when the property was bought, if it was bought, then that marriage may have some implications on the final distribution.

Thus, the answer may depend on several facts, including, but not necessarily limited to:

1) Was he married when he bought the property?

2) How long did he reside in the US when he died?

3) Who are the people named in the US will?

This is essential to determine whether the PR intestate and conjugal statutes will apply.

Additionally, you would still have to initiate a non-contentious heir declaration proceeding in PR so that all transactions with regards to the real estate property are registered with the Property Register.

Additionally, it is best to conduct all transactions with regards to the real estate property in PR because all documents must be notarized by a PR notary-public in order to enter the registry.