The slave would begin by fixing the price of his or her freedom with the master in the presence of the court and paying a substantial portion of it, which would then draw up a certificate identifying the slave as the new designation, coartado. This process could be complicated, however, as several different appraisers could be used who would come up with wildly different estimations of value. The coartado would then usually pay installments over a period of time until reaching the full price for freedom. The setting of an unchangeable price was paramount in this process. If a coartado was bought by another master, the value of the coartado stayed the same minus whatever the coartado had already paid off. While a prospective buyer could pay more than the current price, this was rarely done because it would put the buyer at a financial disadvantage. Once a coartado had paid the full price, they would be issued cartas de libertad coartado (letters of freedom), though historians believe that cartas de libertad venta were also letters of freedom achieved through coartación from which the coartado had already made substantial payments, since the evidence shows that those who received the cartas de libertad venta had had to pay a price well below market price. These coartados most likely paid their share to the master outside of the official court.
