P.R. Laws tit. 32, § 2301
In case of intestate succession, or of the nullity of a will, those who may have an interest in the inheritance may petition the Court of First Instance of the last domicile of the decedent, or of the place where his property is situated, for the issuance of the corresponding order of heir’s declaration.
(1) The petition shall state, under oath, the death of the person whose succession is claimed;
(2) that according to the best information and belief of the petitioner, who shall state the sources of such information and the grounds for such belief, the said decedent died without leaving a will; that due search and inquiry have been made and that none has been found, or if he left a will, that same has been declared void;
(3) the names and domiciles of persons who are entitled to the heirship or succession.
The judge to whom the petition has been presented shall examine in the shortest time possible the documental proof on which the petitioner based his grounds, and the negative certificate of the Registry of Wills of the Supreme Court, and from the result thereof, shall issue the proper order without the need of holding a hearing; or he may discretionally request additional proof or set a date for a hearing if he deems it proper. Said order shall be issued without prejudice to a third party, unless it relates to forced heirs.
When the heir’s declaration has been solicited in favor of a collateral relative within the sixth degree, if the judge has reason to believe that there exist other kin equally or less remote from the decedent and the value of the estate exceeds five thousand dollars ($ 5,000), the judge may, in his discretion, order the publication of notice announcing the death of the decedent and the names and degrees of kinship of those who claim the inheritance, and calling upon those who consider themselves equally or better entitled to such inheritance to make their appearance and file their claims within a fixed period. Such notices shall be published for a term fixed by order of the judge in a newspaper of general circulation published in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Upon the expiration of the term designated in the notice, which term must be reckoned from the date of the last publication of the notice, the judge upon the acceptance of the proofs, shall make an order, as provided by law in such cases naming the persons entitled to the inheritance. Claimants who make their appearance in answer to the notice must set forth in writing and under oath their relationship with the decedent under whom they claim the right of inheritance, in the absence of any document establishing the same.
History —Code Civil Proc., 1933, § 552; July 23, 1974, No. 203, Part 2, p. 98.