Life Estate

A life estate, in Saudi terms a lifetime usufruct, is a right in rem allowing its holder (the usufructuary) to use and exploit a property owned by someone else for the rest of his life. It ends automatically on his death, when the use returns to the owner of the bare title and ownership becomes complete. Saudi law does not use the common-law term 'life estate'; it covers the concept through the rights of usufruct, use and habitation in the Civil Transactions Law. Under Article 679 of the Civil Transactions Law, usufruct is a right in rem entitling the usufructuary to use and exploit a thing owned by another, and it is acquired by a legal disposition such as a contract or will. Article 690 provides that it ends when its fixed term expires and, if no term was fixed, on the usufructuary's death, so a usufruct without a stated term is in practice a lifetime usufruct. The property's fruits, such as rent, belong to the usufructuary during the usufruct; he bears ordinary expenses and maintenance, while major repairs not caused by his fault fall on the owner. The right may be limited to 'habitation' or 'use', in which case it is measured by the needs of the holder and his family and cannot be assigned to others except under an express condition or out of necessity. Lifetime usufruct is used in family planning, for example to guarantee a mother or wife a home for life while the bare title belongs to others. Saudi law, however, adds an important limit: if a person disposes of property to one of his heirs while keeping possession and a lifetime usufruct for himself, the disposition is deemed to take effect after death and the rules of bequests apply unless proven otherwise (Article 648). In areas under the Real Estate Registry, the usufruct must be recorded in the register to be effective.