Usufruct

Usufruct (from Latin: usus fructus) is a limited real right (or in rem right) found in civil law and mixed jurisdictions that unites the two property interests of usus and fructus: Usus (use, as in usage of or access to) is the right to use or enjoy a thing possessed, directly and without altering it. Fructus (fruit, as in the fruits of production) is the right to derive profit from a thing possessed: for instance, by selling crops, leasing immovables or annexed movables, taxing for entry, and so on. A usufruct is either granted in severalty or held in common ownership, as long as the property is not damaged or destroyed. The third civilian property interest is abusus (literally abuse), the right to alienate the thing possessed, either by consuming or destroying it (e.g., for profit), or by transferring it to someone else (e.g., sale, exchange, gift). Someone enjoying all three rights has full ownership. Generally, a usufruct is a system in which a person or group of persons uses the real property (often land) of another. The "usufructuary" does not own the property, but does have a legally cognizable interest in it, which is sanctioned or contractually granted by the owner. Two different types of usufruct exist: perfect and imperfect. In perfect usufruct, the usufructuary is entitled to the use of the property but cannot substantially change it. For example, an owner of a house can grant a usufruct to a resident; the resident could live in (use) the house, but could not (without the owner's assent) renovate it or tear it down and build a bigger house. An imperfect usufruct gives the usufructuary some rights to modify the property. For example, if a land owner grants a piece of land to a usufructuary for agriculture, the usufructuary may...