Usufruct

Property law
Part of the common law series
Types
Personal property Community property Real property Unowned property
Acquisition
Gift Adverse possession Deed Conquest Discovery Accession Lost, mislaid, and abandoned property Treasure trove Bailment License Alienation
Estates in land
Allodial title Fee simple Fee tail Life estate Defeasible estate Future interest remainder Concurrent estate Leasehold estate Condominiums Real estate Land tenure
Conveyancing
Bona fide purchaser Torrens title Strata title Deeds registration Estoppel by deed Quitclaim deed Mortgage Equitable conversion Action to quiet title Escheat
Future use control
Restraint on alienation Rule against perpetuities Rule in Shelley's Case Doctrine of worthier title
Nonpossessory interest
Lien Easement Profit Usufruct Covenant Equitable servitude
Related topics
Fixtures Waste Partition Practicing without a license Property rights Mineral rights Water rights prior appropriation riparian Lateral and subjacent support Assignment Nemo dat Quicquid plantatur Conflict of property laws Blackacre Security deposit
Other common law areas
Contract law Tort law Wills, trusts and estates Criminal law Evidence Higher category: Law and Common law
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Usufruct (/ˈjuːzjuːfrʌkt/)^[1] 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.^[2]

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 be given the right to make improvements for agricultural purposes such as building a barn or laying irrigation pipes. This, however, may be ill-advised for the usufructuary inasmuch as they do not own whatever improvements they make and have no claim against the owner for their value, unless this is specifically laid out in the contract creating the usufruct.^{[3][4][additional citation(s) needed]}

In many cases of tenure by usufruct, such as the ejido system in Mexico, individuals or groups may only acquire the usufruct of the property, not legal ownership.^[5] Usufructs are similar in nature to common-law life estates, save that a usufruct can be granted for a specified term rather than for life.