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 received a home as an inheritance. Both rights are related to property and are usually distributed among the heirs when the family member who leaves the legacy dies.
Thus, the most common is that the spouse of the deceased receives the usufruct while the children obtain the bare ownership of the house. But what do these rights consist of? Can an inherited apartment 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 do not own. The bare property, for its part, is the opposite right. That is, it implies having ownership of the property, but not the right to use it or live in it, they warn from HelpMyCash.com.
Thus, when a home is inherited, the most common is that the usufruct falls on the spouse and the bare ownership on the children, which means that the widower or widower can live in the house until his or her death if the usufruct is for life or during the time assigned in the will or when making the process of acceptance of the inheritance if this is temporary.
In this way, to fully understand both concepts, it must be taken into account that full ownership or ownership of a home is obtained when bare ownership and usufruct fall on the same person. Therefore, when both rights are held by the same person, they can do whatever they want with the house: live in it or sell it. But … what happens when these rights are divided?
The usufruct is untouchable
You can sell an inherited apartment that has usufruct, 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, 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 for the duration of the usufruct. Once the usufruct is extinguished, due to expiration or death of the usufructuary, the person who holds the bare property will take full control of the house.
The usufructuary, on the other hand, 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 in the first place) or with expiration. of the usufruct if it is temporary, so it is an operation that is usually seen very infrequently.
In other words, the usufructuary cannot sell full ownership of the house on his own, because he is not the owner of it and the bare owner cannot sell full ownership because the usufructuary cannot be stripped of his right to live in the house, they assure from HelpMyCash.com.
How is it usually solved?
The most common is that both the owner and the usufructuary sell both rights by mutual agreement to a single person . In this way, it would have full control of the house and would not be affected by the aforementioned limitations. This operation can be carried out at the same time in 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 usufruct right 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 borne in mind that in both cases the usufructuary has to receive financial compensation that is calculated following a simple rule set out 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 (life or temporary). It also establishes that the usufruct must never exceed 70% of the value of the full ownership of the house.
