2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-TWO Appendix (§§ 1 — 39.4) › Appendix IV - Rules of Evidence for the General Court of Justice, 1979 › Chapter III - Presumptions › Rule 16 - Specific presumptions

Presumptions are those established by law or by judicial decisions. The following are recognized among the rebuttable presumptions:
1. That a person is innocent of crime or wrong.
2. That an unlawful act was done with an unlawful intent.
3. That a person intends the ordinary consequence of his voluntary act.
4. That a person takes ordinary care of his own concerns.
5. That evidence wilfully suppressed would be adverse if produced.
6. That all higher evidence would be adverse to the production of other inferior evidence.
7. That money paid by one to another was due to the latter.
8. That a thing delivered by one to another belonged to the latter.
9. That an obligation delivered up to the debtor has been paid.
10. That former rent or installments have been paid when a receipt for latter is produced.
11. That things which a person possesses are owned by him.
12. That a person is the owner of property from exercising acts of ownership over it, or from common reputation of his ownership.
13. That a person in possession of an order on himself for the payment of money, or the delivery of a thing, has paid the money or delivered the thing accordingly.
14. That a person acting in a public office was regularly elected or appointed to it.
15. That official duty has been regularly performed.
16. That a court or judge acting as such, whether in Puerto Rico, a state of the Union or any other country, was acting in the lawful exercise of his jurisdiction.
17. That a judicial record, even if not conclusive, correctly determines or sets forth the rights of the parties.
18. That all matters within an issue were laid before the court or jury and passed upon by them; and in like manner, that all matters within a submission to arbitration were laid before the arbitrators and passed upon by them.
19. That private transactions have been fair and regular.
20. That the ordinary course of business has been followed.
21. That a promissory note or bill of exchange was given or endorsed for a sufficient consideration.
22. That an endorsement of a negotiable promissory note or bill of exchange was made at the time and place of making the note or bill.
23. That a writing is truly dated.
24. That a letter duly directed and mailed was received in the regular course of the mail.
25. Identity of person from identity of name.
26. That acquiescence followed from a belief that the thing acquiesced in was conformable to right or fact.
27. That things have happened according to the ordinary course of nature and the ordinary habits of life.
28. That persons acting as copartners have entered into a contract of copartnership.
29. That a man and woman deporting themselves as husband and wife have entered into a lawful contract of marriage.
30. Children born in wedlock are presumed to be the children of the husband.
31. That a thing once proved to exist continues as long as is usual with things of that nature.
32. That the law has been obeyed.
33. That a document or writing more than twenty (20) years old is genuine, when the same has been since generally acted upon as genuine by persons having an interest in the question, and its custody has been satisfactorily explained.
34. That a printed and published book, purporting to be printed or published by public authority, was so printed or published.
35. That a printed and published book, purporting to contain reports of cases adjudged in the tribunals of the state or country where the book is published, contains correct reports of such cases.
36. That a trustee or other person whose duty was to convey real property to a particular person has actually conveyed to him, when such presumption is necessary to perfect the title of such person or his successor in interest.
37. The uninterrupted use by the public of land for a burial ground, for five (5) years, with the consent of the owner and without a reservation of his rights, is presumptive evidence of his intention to dedicate it to the public for that purpose.
38. That there was a good and sufficient consideration for a written contract.
39. When two persons perish in the same disaster, such as a shipwreck, a battle or a conflagration, and it is not shown who died first, and there are no particular circumstances from which it can be inferred, survivorship is presumed from the probabilities resulting from the strength, age and sex, according to the following rule:
First: If both of those who have perished were under the age of fifteen years, the older is presumed to have survived.
Second: If both were above the age of sixty, the younger is presumed to have survived.
Third: If one is under fifteen and the other above sixty, the former is presumed to have survived.
Fourth: If both are over fifteen and under sixty, and the sexes are different, the male is presumed to have survived. If the sexes are the same, then the older.
Fifth: If one is under fifteen (15) or over sixty (60), and the other between those ages, the latter is presumed to have survived.
40. That a receipt for the purchase of goods or the payment of services is authentic and reflects the fair market value of the goods acquired from the providers or the services received from a provider.
History —Amended July 20, 1979, No. 180, p. 489, § 1; July 31, 1999, No. 202, § 1; Dec. 29, 2003, No. 331, § 1.