Estate Planning for Act 60 Relocatees

You moved to Puerto Rico for the tax benefits. Make sure your estate plan moved with you.

← Back to Resources

Content current as of July 2026. This page is general educational information about estate planning for Act 60 relocatees, not legal or tax advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different; confirm your facts with qualified counsel before acting.

Your mainland plan does not work here

You relocated to Puerto Rico under Act 60 for the tax benefits — and they are real. But here is what your mainland estate-planning attorney probably did not tell you: Puerto Rico is a civil-law jurisdiction. Its estate and succession rules are fundamentally different from every U.S. state you have lived in. Your revocable trust, your pour-over will, your carefully drafted beneficiary designations — all of them were built for a common-law system that does not exist on this island. Without a Puerto Rico–compliant estate plan, your heirs can face contested distributions, tax exposure you thought you had eliminated, and a probate process that can take years.

5 unique risks for Act 60 relocatees

1. Forced heirship overrides your mainland will

Puerto Rico law reserves one-half of your estate for your forced heirs — your children and surviving spouse — regardless of what your will says. This is the legítima, and it applies to assets with Puerto Rico situs. If your mainland will leaves everything to a spouse or a single child, a Puerto Rico court can set those provisions aside. Your carefully drafted plan becomes a contested estate.

Read more about how forced heirship affects your estate plan →

2. Your mainland trust may not be recognized

Puerto Rico had no comprehensive trust statute until Law 219-2012. Trusts created under Delaware, Nevada, or other mainland law were not designed for Puerto Rico’s civil-law framework. Once you change your domicile to Puerto Rico, a court may apply Puerto Rico law to your estate regardless of what your trust document says about governing law. The result: your revocable living trust may not avoid probate, may not protect assets, and may not distribute property the way you intended.

Learn about migrating a mainland trust to Puerto Rico →

3. Your decree has no succession plan

Your Act 60 decree is personal to you. It does not transfer to your heirs, your spouse, or your trust. If you die or become incapacitated without planning for this, your family can lose the tax benefits immediately. Income the business generates after your death is no longer covered by your decree unless someone applies for and obtains a new one — a process that takes months and is not guaranteed.

4. Community-property rules differ from your prior state

If you married before moving to Puerto Rico, your marital property is likely classified under your prior state’s law. But assets you acquire after establishing Puerto Rico domicile may be classified as community property (bienes gananciales) under Puerto Rico’s Civil Code. That creates a patchwork — some assets separate under your old state’s rules, others community under Puerto Rico law. Without a clear inventory and proper titling, your plan will have gaps that litigators can exploit.

5. The IRS still has jurisdiction over your estate

Act 60 reduces your income-tax burden, but it does not eliminate federal estate tax. As a U.S. citizen, your worldwide assets remain subject to federal estate tax at 40% above the exemption ($15 million per individual under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, indexed for inflation). Assets located in Puerto Rico are also subject to Puerto Rico’s own estate tax. Without coordination, some assets can be taxed twice.

Read about IRS enforcement and Act 60 compliance →

What a PR-compliant estate plan includes

  • Puerto Rico will — drafted under the 2020 Civil Code, accounting for the legítima and executed before a Puerto Rico notary.
  • Puerto Rico trust — created under Law 219-2012, with proper situs, trustee selection, and asset-protection provisions.
  • Mainland will (if needed) — for assets that remain in other U.S. states, coordinated with the PR will to avoid conflicts.
  • Asset inventory and situs analysis — identifying which assets are governed by PR law and which are not.
  • Beneficiary-designation review — ensuring retirement accounts, insurance, and financial accounts align with the overall plan.
  • Durable power of attorney — valid under Puerto Rico law for financial decisions during incapacity.
  • Healthcare directive — compliant with Puerto Rico requirements for medical decision-making.
  • Act 60 continuity plan — documenting how family members maintain or transition business operations and tax benefits.

Why one firm should handle both your decree and your estate plan

Most Act 60 advisors stop at the decree. They secure the tax benefit and move on — leaving the estate side to a mainland attorney who does not practice Puerto Rico law. That gap is exactly where relocatees get hurt. Your decree, your residency, your entity structure, and your estate plan are one interlocking system: the residency that keeps your decree valid is the same residency that decides which succession law governs your estate, and the entity that holds your business is the same entity your heirs must be able to take over to keep the tax benefit alive.

When one Puerto Rico firm designs both halves together, the pieces reinforce each other instead of contradicting each other. We coordinate your Act 60 decree, your bona fide residency documentation, your business structure, and a Puerto Rico–compliant estate plan as a single engagement — so nothing falls through the crack between “the tax lawyer” and “the estate lawyer.”

  • One residency story. The closer-connection facts that defend your decree in an IRS audit are the same facts that fix your domicile for succession — we document them once, consistently.
  • Decree-aware trust design. Under Section 45147(b), Individual Resident Investor decree holders can use a revocable trust that ordinary Puerto Rico residents cannot — a planning tool your mainland attorney likely does not know you have.
  • Business succession that protects the benefit. We structure ownership so your heirs can continue operations and re-qualify for incentives, instead of losing the decree at the worst possible moment.

Pricing

Trust-based estate plan: $7,500–$15,000. Includes a Puerto Rico trust under Law 219-2012, a PR will, a mainland will (if needed), powers of attorney, healthcare directives, asset-situs analysis, beneficiary review, and Act 60 coordination. The range depends on the complexity of your asset structure, the number of jurisdictions involved, and whether business-succession planning is required.

Comprehensive estate plan (without trust): $3,500–$6,000. Includes a Puerto Rico will, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, an asset inventory, and beneficiary review — appropriate for relocatees with simpler asset structures who do not need trust-based planning.

Every engagement begins with a free 30-minute strategy call. Fees are quoted as flat rates after the initial consultation, not billed hourly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not necessarily, but you almost certainly need a Puerto Rico trust to work alongside it. Your mainland trust was not designed for Puerto Rico’s civil-law system, and it likely does not account for forced heirship, community property, or Law 219-2012. The best approach is often a dual-trust architecture: your existing mainland trust handles non-PR assets, and a new Puerto Rico trust handles PR-situs assets. We review your existing documents during the initial consultation to determine what needs to change.

No. Under the 2020 Civil Code, one-half of your estate is reserved for your forced heirs (children and surviving spouse). That reserve is mandatory. You do keep full control over the other half (libre disposición), and there are legitimate strategies to maximize flexibility within the system. For assets located outside Puerto Rico, the forced-heirship rules may not apply — which is where multi-jurisdictional planning becomes critical.

Your Act 60 decree is personal and does not transfer automatically to anyone. Income earned after your death is not covered by your decree. With proper planning — a business-succession plan, appropriate entity structuring, and instructions for your family — your heirs can apply for their own decree or restructure operations to maintain tax-efficient treatment. The key is planning for this now, not leaving your family to solve it during a crisis.

You need both skill sets — but not necessarily two firms. The problem with splitting the work is that a mainland estate attorney does not practice Puerto Rico civil law, and a pure Act 60 tax advisor does not draft trusts or wills. We handle both under one roof and one engagement, so your decree, residency, entity structure, and estate plan are designed to work together rather than contradict each other.

We quote flat fees after a free initial call, not hourly billing. A Puerto Rico trust-based estate plan runs $7,500–$15,000 and a will-based plan $3,500–$6,000; Act 60 decree work is scoped separately based on whether you pursue the Individual Resident Investor or Export Services chapter. Handled together, they are coordinated as one engagement so you are not paying two firms to duplicate the same residency and asset analysis.

Related Resources

Free 30-minute strategy call

Find out what your mainland estate plan is missing. We will review your current documents and tell you exactly what needs to change for Puerto Rico compliance — before your heirs find out the hard way.

Book a Free Strategy Call

The information on this page is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Whether a particular estate-planning structure is appropriate depends on individual circumstances including domicile, asset situs, family structure, and applicable law, all of which change. No attorney-client relationship is formed by viewing this content. For advice specific to your situation, schedule a consultation.