Usufruct 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 (user) is the right to use or enjoy a
thing possessed, directly and without altering it.
Fructus (fruit, in a
figurative sense) 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.
In many usufructory property
systems, such as the traditional ejido system in Mexico, individuals or groups may only acquire the usufruct
of the property, not legal title. A usufruct is directly equatable to a common-law life estate except that a usufruct can be
granted for a term shorter than the holder's lifetime (cestui que vie).
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