Maritime Will Colombia (Testamento Maritimo)

A Maritime Will Colombia (Testamento Maritimo) is a special form of will recognized under Colombian law that permits Colombian nationals, crew members, and passengers aboard Colombian-flagged vessels to execute a valid testamentary disposition at sea, in circumstances where access to a notario publico or consular officer is impossible. The testamento maritimo is one of three privileged or special wills (testamentos privilegiados) recognized in the Codigo Civil colombiano (Ley 57 de 1887), the others being the military will (testamento militar) under CC Articles 1085-1091 and the verbal will (testamento verbal) under CC Articles 1096-1100.

The legal framework governing the testamento maritimo in Colombia is established primarily in Codigo Civil Articles 1092 through 1095, which set out the formal requirements, the authorized officer, and the conditions of validity for wills executed at sea. These articles draw from the Spanish Civil Code tradition and the French maritime law influence present in the original Colombian Codigo Civil codified in 1873 and confirmed by Ley 57 de 1887. The Codigo de Comercio colombiano (Decreto 410 de 1971) Articles 1426 through 1458 govern maritime navigation and complement the civil law rules on maritime wills by establishing the authority of the capitan (captain) of the vessel.

Under CC Article 1092, the testamento maritimo may be executed aboard any Colombian-flagged vessel (buque de bandera colombiana) — whether a merchant vessel (buque mercante), a naval vessel (buque de guerra), or a mixed-use vessel — when the testator cannot access a notario publico. The testator may be a Colombian national (nacional colombiano), a foreigner domiciled in Colombia (extranjero domiciliado en Colombia), or any person with property or interests subject to Colombian law. For military personnel aboard naval vessels, the military will rules under CC Articles 1085-1091 may apply concurrently.

The capitan (captain) of the vessel acts as the authorized functionary (funcionario autorizado) to receive and certify the maritime will, in a role analogous to the notario publico for ordinary open wills under CC Article 1070. Under CC Article 1093, the capitan must record the will in the vessel's official logbook (libro de bitacora or diario de navegacion) and confirm the presence of two or three qualified witnesses (testigos habiles) who are neither crew members related to the testator nor beneficiaries named in the will. The Direccion General Maritima (DIMAR) — the Colombian maritime authority created under Decreto 2324 de 1984 — exercises oversight over maritime documentation including the official logbook entries that form the evidentiary basis of maritime wills.

Colombian maritime law follows international conventions to which Colombia is a party, including the Convenio Internacional para la Seguridad de la Vida Humana en el Mar (SOLAS) and the Convenio Internacional sobre Normas de Formacion, Titulacion y Guardia para la Gente de Mar (STCW Convention). The capitan's authority to act as a notarial officer in maritime matters is recognized under both Colombian domestic law and international maritime practice. The Ministerio de Transporte through DIMAR issues navigation patents (patentes de navegacion) and regulates the qualifications of captains authorized to execute maritime legal instruments.

A Maritime Will Colombia is needed whenever a person aboard a Colombian-flagged vessel at sea faces circumstances that make it impossible or impractical to access a notario publico or Colombian consular officer to execute an ordinary open will (testamento abierto) under Codigo Civil Article 1070, yet wishes to make or modify their testamentary dispositions.

The testamento maritimo is appropriate for crew members (tripulantes) — including captains, officers, engineers, deck hands, and service personnel — employed on Colombian-registered commercial vessels operating on long-distance routes between Colombian ports (Cartagena, Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Santa Marta, Tumaco) and foreign destinations. Maritime workers in the Colombian merchant marine face long periods at sea without access to notarial services, and a diagnosis of serious illness, an injury, or simply prudent estate planning during the voyage may motivate the execution of a maritime will.

The document is needed for passengers aboard Colombian cruise vessels or passenger ships who develop a serious medical condition during the voyage and wish to confirm their testamentary wishes are documented before potentially fatal outcomes. DIMAR statistics indicate that Colombian merchant marine vessels carry both professional crew and commercial passengers on domestic routes between Caribbean and Pacific ports.

The maritime will is required when a Colombian national serving on a foreign-flagged vessel wishes to use Colombian law to govern their testamentary disposition under the principle of lex patriae (national law of the testator). Under Colombian private international law — Codigo Civil Articles 18-21 — the formalities of a will may be governed by the law of the place where the testator is located (lex loci actus), but the testator may also invoke the formal requirements of Colombian law to confirm validity under CC Article 1092 ff.

The testamento maritimo is appropriate when a vessel is in a port of a country where the local notarial or testamentary requirements are incompatible with Colombian legal traditions — for example, ports in countries that do not recognize the civil law will format — and the testator prefers to use the maritime will mechanism under Colombian law, with the capitan as authorized officer, rather than attempting to comply with foreign formal requirements.

A valid Maritime Will Colombia under Codigo Civil Articles 1092-1095 must satisfy specific formal requirements that differ from those of an ordinary notarial will, given the circumstances at sea.

Authorized Functionary (Funcionario Autorizado): The capitan of the vessel acts as the receiving officer (funcionario receptor) of the maritime will. The capitan must be duly licensed by the Direccion General Maritima (DIMAR) under Decreto 2324 de 1984 and hold a valid navigation patent for the vessel type. If the capitan is the testator or a beneficiary, CC Article 1093 requires that the first officer (primer oficial) or another senior officer serve in place of the capitan.

Presence of Witnesses (Testigos): CC Article 1093 requires the presence of two qualified witnesses (testigos habiles) who must not be: beneficiaries named in the will or their spouses or relatives within the second degree; the capitan or first officer receiving the will; or persons who cannot serve as testamentary witnesses under CC Articles 1068-1069 (minors, persons of unsound mind, illiterate persons, employees of the vessel with a conflict of interest). Witnesses must be capable, literate, and of full legal age.

Oral Declaration and Recording (Declaracion y Registro): The testator must orally declare their testamentary wishes before the capitan and witnesses. The capitan must record the complete declaration in the official logbook (libro de bitacora or diario de navegacion) maintained under maritime law. The entry must include: the date, time, and geographic position of the vessel (latitude and longitude) at the time of execution; the full name, cedula, and nationality of the testator; the name, flag, and registration number of the vessel; the names and identification of the witnesses; and the complete text of the testamentary dispositions.

Signature Requirements (Firmas): Under CC Article 1094, the maritime will entry in the logbook must be signed by the testator (if able), the capitan, and the witnesses. If the testator is physically unable to sign due to illness or injury, this incapacity must be noted in the logbook entry, and the capitan and witnesses must sign on the testator's behalf, noting the reason for the testator's inability to sign.

Delivery to Authorities Upon Arrival (Entrega al Llegar a Puerto): Under CC Article 1095, upon the vessel's arrival at a Colombian port, the capitan must deliver a certified copy of the maritime will logbook entry to the Capitania de Puerto (Port Captaincy) — administered by DIMAR — within twenty-four hours. The Capitania de Puerto transmits the document to the Superintendencia de Notariado y Registro for entry in the Registro de Testamentos. If the testator has died during the voyage, the Capitania de Puerto notifies the competent Juzgado de Familia for the opening of the succession proceeding under CGP Articles 487-524.

Limited Validity Period (Vigencia Limitada): A critical feature of the testamento maritimo is its limited validity period. Under CC Article 1095, the maritime will becomes void (caduca) if the testator survives for ninety days after disembarking at a port where ordinary testamentary formalities are accessible. During those ninety days, the testator must execute an ordinary open will (testamento abierto) before a notario publico to replace the maritime will, or the maritime will lapses. This caducity rule reflects the privileged nature of maritime wills — they are emergency measures, not permanent substitutes for ordinary notarial wills.

Forced Heirship Compliance (Asignaciones Forzosas): The maritime will must respect the forced heirship rules (asignaciones forzosas) of CC Article 1226, including the legitima rigorosa, the cuarta de mejoras, and any alimentary obligations. Provisions violating forced heirship are partially ineffective and may be subject to reduction (accion de reduccion) by the affected legitimarios before the Juzgado de Familia.

Forms-legal.com provides this Maritime Will Colombia template as a practical guide for understanding the maritime testamentary process. All maritime wills should be prepared with the guidance of a licensed abogado especialista en derecho sucesoral and, upon return to port, validated or replaced with a standard notarial will before a notario publico to confirm permanent legal validity.

Under the Codigo Civil Articles 1008-1226, Colombian succession law applies the legitima system (forced heirship). The Decreto 960 de 1970 governs testamentary forms before Notaria. The Impuesto de Sucesiones applies to inheritances. The Juzgados de Familia have jurisdiction over succession disputes. The Codigo General del Proceso (CGP, Ley 1564 de 2012) governs succession proceedings.