What Is a Usufruct?
A usufruct is the right to use and enjoy property owned by someone else, including the right to any income or "fruits" it produces, without owning the property itself. The holder (the usufructuary) may live in a home, farm land, or collect rents, but must preserve the property and ultimately return it to the owner. The concept comes from civil law (Roman and, in the United States, Louisiana law) rather than the common law.
Usufruct in Florida
Florida is a common-law state and does not use the usufruct as a statutory form of ownership. Floridians achieve nearly the same result through a life estate — a right to use and occupy property for life, after which it passes to a named remainderman — or through a trust that gives a beneficiary the use of property and its income. The term still appears in Florida practice when a will or deed from a civil-law jurisdiction is interpreted, or when older or foreign instruments use the word.
Usufruct Compared to a Life Estate
- Usufruct — a civil-law right to use property and take its income, with a duty to preserve it
- Life estate — the common-law equivalent Florida actually recognizes, measured by a person's life
- Both separate the right to use property from ultimate ownership
Related Terms
- Life Estate — Florida's common-law equivalent
- Remainderman — Who receives the property when the use right ends
- Estate Planning — Where these use-rights are commonly created
Barnes Walker Estate Planning
Barnes Walker's estate planning attorneys structure life estates, trusts, and property-use arrangements for Florida families and interpret instruments that use civil-law concepts such as usufruct. Request a legal inquiry for assistance.
Reviewed by the attorneys at Barnes Walker, Goethe, Shea & Robinson, PLLC