2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THIRTY-ONE - Civil Code (§§ 1 — 5305) › Subtitle 1 - Persons (§§ 81 — 984) › PART VIII - Patria Potestad (§§ 591 — 634c) › Chapter 81 - Manner in Which Patria Potestas Ends (§§ 631 — 634c) › § 634a - Grounds on which a person is deprived, restricted or suspended from exercising patria potestas

The grounds, be it by commission or omission, for which a person may be deprived restricted or suspended of the patria potestas of a son or daughter are the following:
(1) To cause or put the minor at substantial risk of suffering predictable harm or injury of his/her physical, mental, emotional and moral health.
(2) To permit or tolerate another person to incur the above first grounds [sic].
(3) To fail to comply with the duties or exercise the powers provided in § 601(1) of this title. These duties include, but are not limited to the duty of having the minor in his/her company according to law, of supervising his/her education and development, of adequately providing sustenance, clothing, shelter, education or health care, according to his/her wealth or with the means provided by the Commonwealth or any natural or juridical person. Health care includes any treatment or preventive measure required to attend to or prevent any condition involving the physical, mental or emotional health of the minor. No person may be deprived of patria potestas for the legitimate practice of their religious beliefs. However, when due to the above, the person fails to provide the minor with specifically prescribed health care, the court shall provide the adequate remedies to attend to the health of the minor, and in appropriate cases, shall deprive the person of his/her de jure or de facto guardianship, or even of patria potestas as may be best for the minor’s health.
(4) To fail in his/her duty to supervise and care for the minor under the de jure or de facto guardianship of another person:
(a) If having the capacity and the means to do so, he/she has not assumed the care and the guardianship of the minor in his/her own home.
(b) If he/she has failed to provide a reasonable amount for the support of the minor according to his/her financial means.
(c) If he/she has failed to visit the minor or regularly maintained contact or communication with the minor or with his/her de jure or de facto guardian.
The mere fact of being confined to a penal or health institution, or of residing outside of Puerto Rico, situations which limit the physical access and the communication of a father or mother, shall not constitute as such, a violation of the provisions stated herein; without prejudice of the provisions of subsections (3) and (6) of this section.
(5) To incur the unjustified voluntary abandonment of the minor, requiring the intervention of a Commonwealth or municipal agency or the court, or any other person, because he/she has failed to comply with his/her obligations as a father or mother. Abandonment shall be presumed to occur when the minor is found under circumstances which make it impossible to ascertain the identity of his/her parents or when knowing their identity, their whereabouts are unknown in spite of the steps taken to locate them, and said parents fail to claim the minor within thirty (30) days after the minor has been found.
(6) To exploit the minor by forcing him/her to commit any act with the purpose of obtaining a profit or any other benefit.
(7) To fail to comply with the service plan to return a minor to his/her home, effectively offered and provided by the Commonwealth agency in charge of the protection of minors, or by another person designated by said agency, for the parents of minors whom the Commonwealth has had to deprive of their de jure or de facto guardianship. To deprive a person of patria potestas under this paragraph, the court shall determine that the conditions which led to the separation of the minor from the home of his/her parents still exist, or that similar conditions exist which represent a grave risk to the welfare of the minor.
(8) To incur conduct which, if criminally prosecuted, would constitute any of crimes listed below:
(a) Murder, manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter and attempt thereof, §§ 4001—4005 of Title 33.
(i) Child abuse, §§ 436a and 436b of Title 8.
(b) Crimes against the life and physical integrity, §§ 4008, 4009 and 4031—4034 of Title 33.
(c) Rape, §§ 4061 and 4062 of Title 33.
(d) Sodomy, § 4065 of Title 33.
(e) Lewd acts, § 4067 of Title 33.
(f) Indecent exposure, § 4068 of Title 33.
(g) Prostitution of a son or daughter, whether biological or adopted, §§ 4072 and 4073 of Title 33.
(h) Obscene behavior as prohibited in § 4077 of Title 33.
(i) Non-compliance of the obligation to provide child support, § 4241 of Title 33.
(j) Abandonment of a child, § 4242 of Title 33.
(k) Sexual perversion of minors, § 4246 of Title 33; public begging, § 4247 of Title 33.
(l) Abuse (§ 631 of Title 8); aggravated abuse (§ 632 of Title 8); abuse by threat (§ 633 of Title 8); abuse by restriction of liberty (§ 634 of Title 8) and conjugal sexual assault (§ 635 of Title 8) part of the law known as the “Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention Act”.
For the purposes of this section the words “material,” “distribute,” “knowingly,” “obscene acts,” and “sexual behavior” shall have the meaning established in § 4074 of Title 33.
No determination of a court under this subsection shall affect a subsequent criminal procedure for the same acts.
(9) Have been convicted of any of the crimes listed in subsection (8) of this section.
History —Civil Code, 1930, added as § 166A on Jan. 19, 1995, No. 8, § 2; July 24, 1997, No. 43, § 6; Feb. 13, 1998, No. 41, § 1; Aug. 13, 1999, No. 233, § 2, eff. 60 days after Aug. 13, 1999.