Usufruct (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what usufruct is, its characteristics and how it is calculated. Also, differences between temporary and lifetime usufruct.

usufruct rental — When renting a home you obtain its usufruct but not its ownership.

What is usufruct?

Usufruct is the real right of enjoyment of an asset that does not belong to us, that is, of a foreign thing. This translates in legal terms to the possession of the thing, but not to its ownership.

In conclusion, the usufruct It is the right to use and have an asset, without becoming its owners. It is a legal figure whose origins date back to Roman law, and which is extremely common today.

In legal terms, usufruct is understood as the temporary dismemberment of the domain over the thing, that is, while the usufructuary has the right to the profits of the thing, the owner of the thing will have temporarily lost his ability to enjoy or enjoy it. , leaving only the right to dispose of it.

In simpler terms, the owner of an asset continues to be the owner despite the usufruct, but it will be the usufructuary who has the right to enjoy and enjoy it. This is the “partition” of the rights traditionally granted by property.

All forms of usufruct respond to what is established on the matter by the national Constitution or whatever the current legal system is, and the civil codes that regulate the matter.

Characteristics of usufruct

Usufruct is a real right in a foreign thing, so usufruct assets are not part of the assets of the person who uses them but of its owner or owner.

Therefore, many of the property rights of the thing will be prevented, such as those of sale, for example. For the rest, it is a right to complete enjoyment, without limits, but defined in a preconceived, that is, temporal, margin of time.

There are various usufruct assets: material assets (movable or immovable), rights, services, even a part of the thing can be usufruct and not the thing in its entirety, as desired. This ranges from homes, automobiles, machinery, plantations, capital, herds, etc.

Temporary usufruct and life usufruct

usufruct example — The temporary usufruct of machinery includes its use for production.

In general terms, usufruct is classified into two, according to its preconceived duration: temporary and lifelong. Temporary usufruct is one that has a duration period established in its contract and in advance, at the end of which it expires, that is, the right of enjoyment and enjoyment returns to the legitimate owner of the thing. This is the most common type of usufruct.

Instead, a life usufruct has the duration of the entire life of the usufructuary and only then will the rights of enjoyment of the thing return to the owner.

Usufruct contract

Every usufruct relationship is guided by the terms of a usufruct contract. This contract, logically, governs the terms of the agreement and, among other things, determines the type of usufruct and its duration.

It also indicates the percentage of the total value of the property that the owner must receive from the usufructuary, as well as the deposits, ordinary charges, the drafting of an inventory (if applicable), and the way in which the contract itself will be terminated.

Usufruct calculation example

The value of a usufruct It is calculated based on the established terms of use time. For example, a life usufruct usually uses the following formula:

Usufruct = 89 – age of the usufructuary

Since, being for life, the value ranges of the usufruct will be between 10% and 70% of the total value of the asset. For example, if we want to use a house to live in it for life, we must pay the owner an estimated amount according to the previous rule, to financially compensate him for the right to enjoyment that he will be giving us.

We will not be able to sell the house, nor freely reduce its value, but we will be able to enjoy its fruits: we will be able to rent a room, for example, or have a small garden in the garden.

Usufruct and bare ownership

The bare property It is the exclusive right of the owners over a thing transferred in usufruct so you do not have the right to enjoy it.

For example, the owner of an apartment that is rented under rental terms is known as the bare owner of the same, and can sell it if he wants; meanwhile, the rights of use and fruit (that's where the term comes from, from usufructus Latin) of the same will correspond to the renter.