Usufruct

Usufruct is a real right entitling its holder (the usufructuary) to use real estate owned by someone else, exploit it and collect its fruits for a set term or for life, while the owner retains bare ownership and the usufructuary must preserve the property and return it when the right ends. The Civil Transactions Law defines usufruct in Article 679 and lists it among the original real rights (Art. 26). It is acquired by legal disposition, by inheritance if it has a fixed term, or by pre-emption by a co-owner of a usufruct over real estate (Art. 680). The fruits belong to the usufructuary during the usufruct (Art. 682); he bears ordinary expenses and maintenance, whereas major repairs not caused by his fault fall on the owner (Art. 684). The right ends when its term expires, or on the usufructuary's death if no term was set (Art. 690); it also ends on destruction of the property, waiver by the usufructuary or merger of the owner and usufructuary in one person, and a claim to it is not heard after ten years of non-use (Art. 693). It may be limited to a right of use or of habitation according to the needs of the holder and his family (Arts. 694–697). Usufruct differs from a lease: a lease is a personal right arising from a contract and, for homes and shops, documented on the Ejar platform, whereas usufruct is a real right that follows the property and can be invoked against third parties. In areas announced for registration, every lease or usufruct obligation of ten years or more must be noted in the Real Estate Registry to be enforceable (Art. 14, Law of Real Estate Registration), and the usufructuary may register dispositions of his right without the owner's permission unless agreed otherwise (Art. 27). Typical uses include family arrangements and long-term investment contracts.