By: Xiomara Del Toro-Díaz, Esq., CPA & Janira Beltrán Sellés, Esq.
Act Number 64 of January 30, 2018, amended Articles 9 and 10 of Act No. 195-2011, better known as Puerto Rico Homestead Protection Act, for the purpose of establishing the right to a secure home on the main residence of the surviving spouse without the need for the appearance of the heirs on the property.
The Right to Protection of the Main Home and the Family Home protects the principal property of confiscation, sentence or execution exercised for the payment of all debts, except certain debts recognized in the Law. No person may claim more than one property, whether the same is located in Puerto Rico or in any other jurisdiction, as a protected homestead. Individuals or heads of families may record in the corresponding section of the Registry of the Property a declaration that a property is his or her homestead subject to the protection afforded by the Homestead Act, which declaration will constitute prima facie evidence of such protection.
After the death of one of the spouses, Act 64-2018 establishes that the surviving spouse may register its homestead protection rights without the approval or acceptance of the rest of the heirs who may have a participation in the residence. The legislative intent, however, is not to preclude the right of any heir to carry out the actions that are necessary to enforce their rights in the inheritance in which they are commoners.
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