The concepts of usufruct and bare ownership may not be known to everyone, but they are more likely to be among those who have ever inherited a home. Both rights are related to the property and are usually distributed among the heirs when the relative who leaves the legacy dies. Thus, the most common is that the spouse of the deceased receives the usufruct while the children obtain bare ownership of the house. But what do these rights consist of? Can an inherited flat that has a usufruct be sold?
The usufruct is the right that allows a person to use a home that is not theirs, that is, of which they are not the owner. Bare ownership, for its part, is the opposite right. In other words, it implies having ownership of the property, but not the right to use it or live in it, warn HelpMyCash.com.
Thus, when a home is inherited, the most common thing is that the usufruct falls to the spouse and the bare ownership to the children, which means that the widow or widower can live in the house until their death if the usufruct is lifetime or during the time assigned in the will or when doing the process of accepting the inheritance if it is temporary.
In this way, to fully understand both concepts, it must be taken into account that full ownership or control of a dwelling is obtained when bare ownership and usufruct fall to the same person. Therefore, when both rights are held by the same person, they can do what they want with the house: live in it or sell it. But… what happens when these rights are divided?
The usufruct is untouchable
An inherited apartment that has usufruct can be sold, but for this the bare owner and the usufructuary must agree to do so, since the usufruct of a house is an untouchable right by law. However, it must be taken into account that both legal figures can be sold separately, but in this case the full ownership of the house would not be transferred, which brings with it certain limitations that are important.
For example, the bare owner can sell the bare ownership of the house to a third party, but the person who buys it will not be able to live in the house while the usufruct lasts. Once the usufruct is extinguished, due to expiration or death of the usufructuary, the person who holds the bare property will hold full ownership of the house.
The usufructuary, for its part, can sell the usufruct to a third party, but in this case the right would be lost with the death of the first usufructuary if it is for life (that is, the one who received the right first) or with the expiration of usufruct if it is temporary, so it is an operation that is usually seen very infrequently.
In other words, the usufructuary cannot sell the freehold of the house on his own, because he is not the owner of it and the bare owner cannot sell the freehold either because the usufructuary cannot be deprived of his right to live in the house, they assure from HelpMyCash.com.
How is it usually resolved?
The most common is that both the bare owner and the usufructuary sell both rights to a single person by mutual agreement. In this way, it would come to hold full control of the house and would not be affected by the aforementioned limitations. This operation can be carried out at the same time at a notary’s office and is not particularly complex.
It is also quite common for the heir who is the bare owner to buy the right of usufruct from his parent. Thus, he becomes the full owner of the home and can decide what to do with it: keep it, sell it, rent it, etc.
Of course, it must be taken into account that in both cases the usufructuary has to receive financial compensation that is calculated following a simple rule contained in some tax regulations (inheritance or donation tax and ITP) and that takes into account the age of the usufructuary. and the type of usufruct (for life or temporary). This also establishes that the usufruct must never exceed 70% of the value of the freehold of the house.
Facebook Comments
Disqus