Usufruct

What is the Right of Usufruct?

A usufruct right is an easement right that gives a certain person the opportunity to make full use of someone else’s property or assets. With the establishment of the usufruct right, the owner of the real estate retains the self-worth of the property or the right to it, and, in turn, allocates the benefits that can be obtained from them to a specific person.

How is the Usufruct Right Established?

The right of usufruct arises in three ways: the right of usufruct established by contract, established by a court decision and the legal right of usufruct.

The Usufruct Right Established by the Contract
The usufruct right on real estate is established by issuing an official deed and registering it in the title deed. The legal provisions on the violation of immovable property are also applied to usufruct rights established on immovable property. Therefore, just as an immovable owner can sell his real estate, he can also establish a usufruct right for the benefit of a third party. This third person can be a natural person, as well as a legal entity.

In practice, usually a person who owns the entire immovable property sells his own property, keeping the usufruct right on it, in this way, the registration of the usufruct right in the land registry is required. For example, the father keeps the usufruct right of his real estate and donates or sells his dry property to his children. Of course, the opposite is also possible in this situation. In other words, it is also possible for the owner to establish a usufruct right in favor of someone else by keeping the dry property on himself.

Legal Usufruct Right
A legal usufruct right is a usufruct right provided for in the law. Even if the legal usufruct right on the immovable property has not been registered in the land registry, it can be asserted against those who know the situation. In turn, if it is registered, it can be argued against everyone. The usufruct rights arising from the law are listed as follows:

Usufruct right of the surviving spouse of the inheritance (With the amendment made to the Civil Code by the Law No. 3678 of November 23, 1990, the right of the surviving spouse to usufruct arising from the inheritance was abolished. Therefore, it is possible that the surviving spouse will choose the usufruct right only in the case of deaths before November 23, 1990, since the legislation in force at the time of death will be applied.)
The right of usufruct over the property of the minor under the guardianship of the parents
The usufruct right of the husband over the wife’s property
The Right of Usufruct Established by a Court Decision
If the subject of the usufruct right is immovable, the contract on the establishment of the usufruct right must be made in an official manner. If the owner refrains from requesting registration, the creditor can provide judicial registration of the usufruct right. Together with the court decision, the right to usufruct is born without registration. It is also important to note that a finalized court decision is being sought on usufruct rights that will be established in accordance with the court’s decision.

How Does the Usufruct Right End?

The termination of the usufruct right, just like its establishment, varies according to the subject of the usufruct right. There are more than one reasons for the termination of the usufruct right allocated on real estate. These;

If the usufruct right has been established for a limited period of time, the expiration or waiver of the usufruct right
Death or disappearance of the personality (termination of the legal entity, blunder, etc.)
Leave
Complete destruction of real estate
Expropriation of real estate
Sale of real estate by forced execution
Ruling
it can be listed as. The termination of the usufruct right on movable property or receivable rights is of two types. The first of these occurs in the form of the destruction of the movable property or the termination of the right to receivables. The second possibility arises in the form of the expiration of the period assuming that the usufruct right depends on the period, and if it does not depend on the period, the owner of the right dies or his personality disappears.

At the expiration of the usufruct right, the right holder is obliged to return to the owner what is the subject of the usufruct right. As a rule, the usufruct holder is required to return the item as it was received. Although the usufruct holder cannot be held responsible for wear and tear caused by normal use, the usufruct holder is responsible for damages, asset reductions that occur outside of them, unless he proves that they do not occur due to his own fault. At the same time, the usufruct holder is obliged to compensate the products obtained by exceeding the limits of the usufruct right.

In exchange for these responsibilities of the usufruct holder, the usufruct holder may request compensation in accordance with the provisions of his/her work without a power of attorney for costs and additions he/she has made to the item, even if he/she is not obliged to. Both the owner and the usufruct owner’s claim for compensation expires after a year from the date of return of the property.

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