A parent can give a child the usufruct of property but this situation will cease upon his death, recalled the Court of Cassation in a judgment of January 5.
On the death of this donor, the child beneficiary cannot claim to keep this usufruct for himself alone, vis-à-vis his brothers and sisters or his co-heirs. A son, who refused to share with his brothers and sisters the usufruct of a house that his mother had given him during her lifetime, lost his case. He considered that this given usufruct, this right to benefit from the house, to use it and to draw income from it, had entered definitively into his patrimony.
The usufruct is extinguished on the death of the one who gave it
But the donation of usufruct is by nature temporary, the judges recalled, whether it is made until a specific date or not. If it is made definitively, it is lifelong and it is extinguished no matter what happens on the death of the donor. The usufruct is extinguished on the death of the one who gave it and not of the one who received it.
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This son could not therefore keep for himself alone, after the death of his mother, the benefit of the usufruct he had before his death, explained the Court. The other children demanded from their brother the payment of an indemnity since he alone benefited from the house of which he had received the usufruct. They rightly claim since the death of their mother, concluded the judges, since, while waiting for a division, all were equal usufructuaries on this property.
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