How to Apply for Probate (PR)

PR Application Process

There are several steps you must take to obtain the court's permission to represent and manage a PR estate.

1. Probate Application: In Puerto Rico, the application involves several steps: see details ↧
   • Start by submitting a Request for Proof or Negation of Will to ODIN in order to determine whether or not a will has been registered.
   • Now submit a petition to the regional Tribunal de Primera Instancia requesting judicial administration of the estate (see 32 L.P.R.A. § 2361 for petition details).
   • If there is a will, include it. The court will issue a summons for the witnesses and the notary to validate their signatures, so if any have died in the meantime, it can be helpful to supply this information, along with some kind of corroborating proof (see 32 L.P.R.A. §§ 2273-77).
   • If there is no will, the court will issue an order for Declaratoria de Herederos (i.e., Declaration of Heirs).
   • Submit your official acceptance of the office (see 32 L.P.R.A. § 2571).
   • Note that in Puerto Rico, an executor is by default required to complete the estate settlement within 1 year, unless there is litigation. The executor can extend this deadline by 1 year, and the heirs can extend it further by unanimous consent. See 31 L.P.R.A. §§ 11543-45.
2. Notice of Probate: In Puerto Rico, if you have submitted a handwritten will to the court, the court will ensure the heirs have been notified prior to the of the will (see 32 L.P.R.A. § 2280a). Note: In 2020, Puerto Rico completely replaced its Civil Code, and even in 2025, few resources in English have been updated to reflect these changes... leaving EstateExec as one of the only sources of accurate information in this regard.
3. Probate Hearing: The court will hold a hearing to officially consider and approve your application. Often this hearing is just a formality, and you may not need to attend at all.
4. Probate Bond: If required by the court, you must obtain a probate bond to protect the estate from any losses you may cause (up to a certain dollar amount). Requirements for such a bond can depend on jurisdiction, whether there is a will, size of estate, whether you reside in the same state, and other factors. See Probate Bonds for advice on how to potentially avoid the need fo such a bond.
5. Objections: Note that interested parties have the right to legally challenge your application (before your official appointment, or even afterwards).
6. Letters: Once the court approves your application, you will receive your "Letters", which are certified documents you can use to prove your authority to third parties. If you applied for "probate", you will officially be known as the "executor" of the estate. If instead you applied for "administration", you will be known as the "administrator". Many states also use the term "personal representative" to cover both cases, sometimes deprecating the uses of the more precise terms.

Court Location

It can sometimes be difficult to determine which court to use for a given estate. The particular type of court that oversees the probate process varies by state: it may be a dedicated probate court, a circuit court, a superior court, a general county court, or something else.

Note that real property must be probated in the state in which it is physically located, so you may need to go through probate in multiple states.

Next Steps

Once you have been officially appointed and granted your Letters, you can begin the bulk of the estate administration and settlement process, keeping in mind that you now have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the estate.

See our Complete Guide to Estate Settlement in PR for an overview of estate settlement in general, Probate for the court-supervised aspects of estate settlement in particular, and Timeline for an overview of tasks by time period.

If you are using EstateExec, it will automatically generate a list of detailed tasks for you to accomplish, based upon the particulars of your estate.

Additional Information

See also Becoming Estate Executor (i.e., Personal Representative).