Explained: Usufruct Rights

The Civil Code No. 84 of 1949 outlines the provisions and legal nature of usufruct rights, defining them as a real right that pertains to the property itself without any intermediation from others. Usufruct rights grant the holder direct authority to use and exploit an immovable or movable property while the actual ownership, or “bare ownership,” remains with the owner.

In other words, ownership rights allow the owner to dispose of, use, and exploit their property, including the benefit of its use. However, an owner can relinquish the usufruct rights to another, granting that individual the power to use and exploit the property while retaining the right to dispose of it.

Furthermore, an owner of a property encumbered with usufruct rights can sell the property, but the usufruct rights remain with the beneficiary. The beneficiary can exercise their rights over the property, benefit from it, and relinquish their usufruct rights to another without the property owner’s consent. This means that a new property buyer does not have the authority to evict the beneficiary.

This illustrates the difference between renting and usufruct. While renting is a personal right and not a real right, it guarantees the tenant the benefit of the leased property but does not grant them the right to use and exploit it. Therefore, the landlord can evict the tenant.

Conversely, the usufruct beneficiary cannot make ownership transactions with the property, which remains solely with the owner. This is supported by judicial precedent in Court of Cassation decision No. 1436 of 1980, stating that the beneficiary has a real right over the property and can transact with it, except for its ownership or “bare ownership.”

Usufruct rights are established through a contract between the property owner and the beneficiary, where the owner grants the beneficiary the right to use the property, with or without financial compensation, while retaining the bare ownership. If the usufruct applies to real estate, this right must be registered in the Land Registry or marked with a claim to establish the usufruct on the land record.

In this case, the beneficiary is required to conduct an official inspection to identify the property subject to usufruct and its contents. The beneficiary must also provide a guarantor or a cash or physical guarantee to compensate the property owner for any damage at the end of the usufruct period. These two conditions (the inspection and the guarantee) are not mandatory. They can be waived by the contract establishing the usufruct right, according to Article 939/2 of the Civil Law. The beneficiary must also take care of the property and return it to the owner in the same condition as it was at the beginning of the usufruct, under penalty of being responsible for any subsequent damages.

Usufruct rights can also be established through prescription (Statute of limitations), provided that the property has not undergone delimitation and census, meaning it does not yet have a Land Record. Usufruct rights on such land are acquired through long prescription, that is, after 15 years of possession of the property.

Usufruct rights are not permanent; they expire either at the end of the specified term or upon the beneficiary’s death. Therefore, usufruct rights are not transferred to the heirs of the beneficiary. This contrasts with the rights concerning Amiri lands. In the case of Amiri lands, the state owns the bare ownership but grants others the right to dispose of them, allowing these individuals to use, exploit, and cultivate the land. The benefit of such disposition transfers to the heirs upon the death of the disposer, and if included within zoning plans, the property can become the absolute ownership of the beneficiary (or their heirs), allowing for the legal classification of the property to be changed from Amiri to private ownership.