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: