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Civil Law

Explanation of Article 681

Explanation of Article 681

The article clarified that the rights and obligations of the beneficiary are governed by two matters: The first matter: The rights and obligations of the beneficiary as determined by the instrument establishing the usufruct right, whether the instrument establishing the usufruct right is a contract, a will, or pre-emption in the sale contract in which pre-emption is involved. For example, if the instrument establishing the usufruct right is a sale, the provisions of the sale apply to this transaction, with the rights and obligations it entails for the seller and buyer of the usufruct right. If the usufruct right is inherited, this right in its rights and obligations is subject to the instrument establishing the usufruct right for the predecessor. The second matter: The rights and obligations of the beneficiary mentioned in this section. It is worth noting that what is found in the instrument establishing the usufruct right takes precedence over what is included in this section of provisions unless they are of public order; because the original assumption is that the provisions mentioned in this section are not of public order; thus, the instrument establishing the usufruct right may contain provisions that differ in determining rights and obligations. The obligations of the beneficiary mentioned in this section are contained in articles (683 - 688), while his rights are included in article (682) and what was previously mentioned in the definition of usufruct right in article (679) that the usufruct right grants the beneficiary a real right in the usufruct object, allowing him the right to use and exploit it without the right to dispose of its corpus; this is retained by the owner of the corpus for himself; and the beneficiary's real right to use and exploit the usufruct object grants him the authority to manage it, and to dispose of this right - i.e., the usufruct right without the corpus - in all types of dispositions, and to undertake all necessary legal actions. Accordingly, the usufruct right grants the beneficiary the following rights:

  1. To use the usufruct object; the beneficiary may use the usufruct object as the owner uses his property, provided that he maintains it.
  2. To exploit the usufruct object; this distinguishes the usufruct right from the right of use and the right of residence; in the latter two, the right holder is not allowed to exploit the object, and exploitation may be direct, such as the beneficiary cultivating the agricultural land, or indirect, such as renting the house for residence or the land for agriculture.
  3. To benefit from the fruits of the usufruct object, as will be detailed in article (682).
  4. To perform the necessary administrative acts for this usufruct; such as leasing the usufruct object, provided that it does not exceed the usufruct period, collecting the rights he has the usufruct right over, selling agricultural crops, and the like.
  5. To dispose of the usufruct right without the corpus - in all types of dispositions; he may transfer the usufruct right to others, whether for compensation or as a gift, he may sell it, barter it, make it a share in a company, use it to settle a debt, or gift it, observing the formality in the gift contract, or bequeath it if the usufruct right is for a specified period. If the beneficiary transfers the usufruct right in any of the aforementioned ways, this does not result in the termination of the usufruct right; rather, the second beneficiary becomes the owner of the usufruct right itself, having all the rights of the first beneficiary, and the first beneficiary remains obligated to his obligations towards the owner and these do not transfer to the second beneficiary. If the usufruct right is not for a specified period, it ends with the death of the first beneficiary, not the second beneficiary; rather, the right transfers to his heirs.
  6. To mortgage the usufruct right or arrange another subordinate real right such as a privilege, and the mortgagee creditor can only seize the usufruct right itself without the corpus.
  7. To initiate lawsuits related to this right; such as a lawsuit to protect his possession of the usufruct property, as well as lawsuits related to the rights included in this right, such as rights arising from his exploitation of the usufruct object, allowing him to demand these rights from debtors, and to demand guarantees for these rights.

Related To

Article 681

The rights and obligations of a usufructuary shall be consistent with the grounds that gave rise to the right of usufruct, as well as the provisions set forth in this Sub-section.