Glossary
Usufruct
Usufruct is the right to use a property that belongs to another person and to receive the income from it. For real estate, the usufructuary may live in the property or let it and collect the rent. The owner, known as the bare owner, retains ownership of the property but does not have the use of it for as long as the usufruct exists.
Usufruct is often used in a gift or an inheritance: parents transfer the bare ownership to their children while keeping the usufruct, which allows them to continue living in the property. It is entered in the land register.
The usufructuary is responsible for the ordinary maintenance of the property, the running costs and the taxes linked to its use. Major repairs remain, in principle, the responsibility of the bare owner. Unless a fixed term has been set, the usufruct ends on the death of the usufructuary: the bare owner then recovers full ownership.
