For the duration of the usufruct, the owner may exercise the right of possession, use, and collection of proceeds only if the beneficiary of usufruct does not exercise his rights thereto. Usufruct is a personal right which cannot be either inherited or transferred to another person. Usufruct shall be granted for only a limited period of time, not to exceed the lifetime of the beneficiary of usufruct, however, it shall remain in force even if ownership of the property is transferred.
A beneficiary of usufruct shall act in accordance with the rules of normal management when exercising his right thereto and shall be liable for the maintenance costs thereof; and, furthermore, for the obligations related to the use of the thing as well as for all public dues; however, extraordinary repairs and renovations shall be performed by the owner. Owners are entitled to regularly inspect the exercise of usufruct. If a beneficiary of usufruct uses the property improperly, damages or otherwise jeopardizes it, and if the owner has protested to no avail; the owner may demand security. If a beneficiary of usufruct fails to provide security, the court shall be entitled, upon the owner's request, to order the suspension of the exercise of usufruct until such security is provided.
A usufruct may be constituted by contract or based on a legal regulation (typically called as widow’s or widower’s usufruct of a surviving spouse) or based on a court decision or official resolution. Usufruct on a real property shall be registered in the property register. A real property encumbered by usufruct may only be sold if the beneficiary of usufruct waives his usufruct in writing and consents to removing it from the property register (this fact should be indicated in the sale contract); otherwise the property may be sold only encumbered by the usufruct (i.e. at a reduced price) (which fact should also be indicated in the sale contract).
It frequently occurs that parents purchase a home for their child but they wish to keep a certain degree of control over the property and, therefore, they establish a usufruct in the sale contract. After this it is almost impossible to sell the property without their approval since if they do not waive their such right, the person who purchases the property should buy it “together with them”. Nevertheless, it happens very rarely.
If you have any questions relating to usufruct, you may contact us also via our online consultancy section.
