2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART IV - Vital Statistics Registry (§§ 1041 — 1325) › Chapter 95 - Administrative Provisions (§§ 1231 — 1251) › § 1231 - Supervision by Secretary of Health; changes in registers

The Secretary of Health shall prepare, cause to be printed, and furnish to the keepers of the Registers, all books, printed matter and forms to be used for the registration of births, marriages and deaths occurring or taking place in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or which may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this part, and he shall prepare and distribute such detailed instruction, not in conflict with the provisions of this part, as may be necessary for the uniform application hereof and for keeping a perfect registration system; and for such purpose, no books, printed matter, or forms, other than those furnished by the Secretary of Health shall be used. Said Secretary shall cause the careful examination of the certificates received in his Department each month from the keepers of the Registers, and he shall request such additional information as may be necessary on those certificates appearing incomplete or defective, for which purpose, every person having knowledge of facts in connection with any birth, marriage, or death, shall be under the obligation to furnish said information when so required by the Secretary of Health in person or through his accredited representative, by mail, or through the district registrar; Provided, That omissions or defects appearing on any certificate before being registered in the Department of Health may be corrected by inserting in red ink the necessary corrections or additions in said certificate, but after the same has been filed in the Department of Health, no correction, addition, or amendment substantially altering it, shall be made thereon unless by virtue of an order of the District Court, which order, in such case, shall be filed in the Department of Health, reference to be made to the certificate to which it corresponds; Provided, however, That when the recognition of a natural child is made in a public document or in an affidavit, the presentation of said document or affidavit will be sufficient for the keeper of the Register of Vital Statistics to proceed to register the same, and, for that purpose, the corresponding certificate of registration shall be filled out; Provided, further, That in case the birth of such child has been previously registered, the additional information resulting from such recognition shall be entered on the certificate.
To obtain said order the interested party shall file, in the Part of the District Court of his domicile, a petition setting forth under oath and duly substantiating his pretension accompanied by the proper documentary proof in support of his petition. Copy of the petition and of any other documentary proof shall be transmitted simultaneously with his filing to the Prosecuting Attorney who shall take his standing within the term of ten (10) days.
After ten (10) days from the date of transmittal and notice to the Prosecuting Attorney, without his having made any objection, the court shall take cognizance and shall resolve the petition on its merits without a hearing or shall hold it in its discretion, if deemed advisable, and shall issue the proper writ.
The writ authorizing the rectification or amendment of an entry in the late Civil Registry shall be recorded by annotation made in due form on the margin of the rectified registration. The rectification addition or amendment of a certificate already filed in the General Registry of Vital Statistics shall be made by inserting therein the corrections, additions or amendments authorized by the court. The necessary scratches shall be made in such manner that the scratched word is always legible.
The change, addition or modification of a name or surname may be made only at the instance of an interested party, who shall file in any Part of the District Court, the proper petition, setting forth under oath the grounds for his pretension, accompanied by the proper documentary proof in support of his petition. Copy of the petition and of any other documentary proof shall be transmitted to the Prosecuting Attorney simultaneously with the filing.
After ten (10) days from the date of transmittal and notice to the Prosecuting Attorney without his having made any objection, the court shall take cognizance and resolve the petition on its merits without a hearing or shall hold it in its discretion if deemed advisable, and shall issue the proper writ. The writ authorizing the change, addition or modification of a name or surname, shall be recorded in the late Civil Registry by annotation made in due form on the margin of the registration of the birth of the interested party and on the margin of his marriage certificate. The change, addition or modification of a name or surname, shall be made in the General Registry of Vital Statistics by crossing out in the birth certificate and in the marriage certificate of the interested party the original name or surname substituted, and signing the new name or surname authorized by the court. The scratches shall be made so that the name or surname eliminated is always legible.
History —Apr. 22, 1931, No. 24, p. 228, § 31; May 12, 1943, No. 117, p. 344, § 1; Apr. 26, 1950, No. 119, p. 304, § 1; July 23, 1974, No. 204, Part 2, p. 100, § 1.