P.R. Laws tit. 24, § 1313
In cases of catastrophic events, the death of those persons whose bodies cannot be recovered or identified shall be established according to the following procedure:
(a) The Governor shall make a declaration decreeing the occurrence of a catastrophic event in Puerto Rico for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) After the Governor’s declaration, the Office of the Prosecutor shall initiate an investigation of the events that have taken place and open a record of investigation. Said record shall include a census of the persons who disappeared on the day or days of said catastrophic event and whose bodies cannot be recovered or identified as well as a report of the evidence to this effect.
(c) The Office of the Prosecutor shall have forty-five (45) days to draw up said record and to present it before the corresponding court along with a petition for it to certify the death of those people included in the census and who disappeared or could not be identified as a result of the catastrophic event. Along with its petition, the Office of the Prosecutor shall notify the court and the interested parties of those cases which were not included in the petition and where the Office of the Prosecutor was asked to carry out such action.
Any party interested in a case excluded from the petition may petition the court for its inclusion.
(d) When the petition of the Office of the Prosecutor is presented, the court shall dictate an order for the publication of a special public notice which should be made prominently in two (2) newspapers of general circulation for five (5) consecutive days. The notice shall establish that those persons who do not agree with the petition of the Office of the Prosecutor shall have thirty (30) days to impugn it. The notice shall include the following information, among others:
(1) Title — Notice of special legal procedure for certification of death.
(2) Room and Part of the court.
(3) Case number.
(4) Place and date of the catastrophic event.
(5) Name, personal data, names of relatives and any other information which would serve to identify the person whose certification of death is sought.
(6) Last place where the person was seen alive, and last known residential address of the person whose certification of death is needed.
(7) Term within which the person or persons who have information pertinent to the procedure can appear to provide said information, and the name of the person before whom they shall appear.
(e) Within the fifteen (15) days following the expiration of the thirty (30)-day term provided in subsection (d) of this section, and if the petition of the Office of the Prosecutor has not been contested, the court shall issue a resolution to decree the death of the disappeared or deceased people who cannot be identified. Thirty (30) days after the issuing of the resolution of the court, it shall be understood to be final and binding except as provided by § 1314 of this title.
(f) Once the resolution becomes final and binding, the court shall notify the Secretary of Health to proceed to issue the certificates of death of the persons decreed as deceased in the resolution. The Secretary of Health shall establish a special registry in the Bureau of Vital Statistics of Puerto Rico to register the death certifications issued under this chapter.
(g) At any time after the court petition has been made, the Office of the Prosecutor may request the court to amend the petition submitted to include additional names. The court shall require compliance with the procedure stated above for each person whose certification of death is needed. Pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e) of this act, the court shall be empowered to issue partial resolutions to certify the death of one (1) or more persons.
(h) In those cases in which the petition for certification of death by the Office of the Prosecutor is opposed or contested, the court shall conduct a hearing to receive all the oral and documentary evidence which is submitted to it. The court shall issue the corresponding resolution to determine if the certificate of death is in order or not as demonstrated by the preponderance of evidence within a term not to exceed ten (10) days after the hearing was held. No resolution to certify the death of a person under this subsection shall be issued without the prior appearance of the Office of the Prosecutor before the court.
(i) In the cases where the Office of the Prosecutor has failed to petition the court for the certification of death of a person, the presumptive heirs, relatives or interested parties shall have a period of three (3) years from the declaration of the occurrence of a catastrophic event to request said certificate of death by themselves or through the Office of the Prosecutor, under the provisions of this chapter. In these cases, the court shall hold a hearing to receive all the oral and documentary evidence which is submitted. The court shall issue the corresponding resolution determining if the certificate of death is in order or not, as demonstrated by the preponderance of evidence, within a term not to exceed ten (10) days from the date the hearing was held. No resolution to certify the death of a person under this subsection shall be issued without the prior appearance of the Office of the Prosecutor before the court.
History —Dec. 12, 1985, No. 1, p. 895, § 3.