Q: My wife's grandmother has died in Puerto Rico no surviving Husband or Children. Six Grand children and house with Mtg.

A: Regarding your grandmother's will, upon the death of her children, her grandchildren become her legitimate heirs in their own right by representation of their parents. Thus, by leaving out three of her grandchildren without explicitly disinheriting them pursuant to the permissible causes under the Puerto Rico Civil Code, the omitted grandchildren have been pretermissioned and have a cause to go before a court of law in Puerto Rico.

Now then, if your grandmother died before November 28, 2020, the entire will can be revoked by a competent court of law, and her estate may then be distributed equally among all the surviving grandchildren. If she died on or after that date, the omitted grandchildren can only expect to participate in the legitimate half of her estate, and the "free disposition" half would remain among the three grandchildren she specifically stated in her will.

However, your grandmother's estate is made up of her assets AND obligations. Therefore, before any distribution of assets is made among your grandmother's heirs, the mortgage and any other debts must first be paid. Those heirs who accept their inheritance "at inventory title" would only be responsible for the debts up to the value of the inheritance received from your grandmother. BUT, any grandchild who has been in possession or control of the estate is assumed to have accepted his/her inheritance "pure and simple", and will be liable, not only with the value of the inheritance received, but also responsible with his/her own patrimony.

In any event, should you appear before a Puerto Rico court to contest the will, the bank holding the mortgage note should also be notified because of its interest in your grandmother's estate.