Usufruct is the utility obtained from something.
Usufruct is the utility or benefit obtained from a thing. The term comes from the Latin usufructus . For example: “The usufruct that the business grants is very great, that is why there are so many interested in participating in the project.”
In the judicial field, usufruct is the right to enjoy the property of others with the obligation to preserve them. This means that the usufructuary owns the good in question (has possession), can use it and obtain its fruits, but is not its owner (is not the owner). The usufructuary, therefore, does not have the right to alienate or diminish the asset without the owner's permission. Only the latter can dispose of the asset, tax it or sell it, according to his will .
Usufruct involves a temporary dismemberment of ownership over a property, since its owner cannot take advantage of it while the right to obtain its profits belongs to the usufructuary. In other words, the owner's benefit will take place in the future, when the usufruct ends.
Types of usufruct
It is possible to distinguish between simple usufruct (when it is enjoyed by a single person) and multiple usufruct (the property is enjoyed by several people, successively or simultaneously).
Another classification of usufruct allows us to distinguish between partial usufruct (the usufructuary can only use part of the property) and total usufruct (affects the property as a whole).
Finally, legal usufruct is that imposed by law , while voluntary usufruct is developed from an act of will (will) or a bilateral contract.
There are various types of usufruct.
Rights of the usufructuary
- Use and enjoy the good. Since there are things that cannot be used without being consumed, it is common for different regulations to allow a moderate level of consumption .
- Perceive the fruits that the thing generates. It should be noted that even when the benefits of the usufruct begin to be generated before its constitution, they are the property of the usufructuary. Likewise, in cases in which said fruits begin to be produced during the usufruct but must be collected after its completion, they must be received by the owner.
- To make full use of their usufruct right, being able to transfer, lease and tax it;
- To make as many improvements as you wish on the property, as long as its form or essence is not altered, and knowing that you will not be compensated when the usufruct ends.
Obligations linked to usufruct
On the other hand, you are obliged to:
- Preserve the form and substance of the property; In other words, do not damage or destroy it, unless it involves consumer goods, such as the land to be exploited. To achieve this objective, the usufructuary must comply with the maintenance tasks of the usufructuary thing.
- Carry out the inventory before starting to enjoy the thing.
- Provide a bond to guarantee the owner that he will comply with his obligations. Testamentary usufruct is the only case in which this point is usually ignored.
- Return the property once the usufruct has ended.
Causes of extinction
The usufruct may be extinguished if:
- The usufructuary dies. This occurs with life usufruct , which establishes that the beneficiary or beneficiaries will use the property as long as they live.
- The term expires (as is the case with the usufruct with term ) or the resolution condition is met (as established in the conditional usufruct ).
- The usufruct and ownership are consolidated under a single owner.
- The usufructuary renounces his rights and obligations.
- The asset is lost or extinguished, except in cases in which the asset is replaced by compensation or other things.
- The right of the person who creates and establishes the usufruct is resolved.
- The treatment expires when the usufructuary does not use the property during the time established by law.