TITLE VI USUFRUCT
CHAPTER 3
OBLIGATIONS OF THE USUFRUCTUARY
Article 583
The usufructuary, before entering upon the enjoyment of the property, is obliged:
(1) To make, after notice to the owner or his legitimate representative, an inventory of all the property, which shall contain an appraisal of the movables and a description of the condition of the immovables;
(2) To give security, binding himself to fulfill the obligations imposed upon him in accordance with this Chapter.
Article 584
The provisions of No. 2 of the preceding article shall not apply to the donor who has reserved the usufruct of the property donated, or to the parents who are usufructuaries of their children’s property, except when the parents contract a second marriage.
Article 585
The usufructuary, whatever may be the title of the usufruct, may be excused from the obligation of making an inventory or of giving security, when no one will be injured thereby.
Article 586
Should the usufructuary fail to give security in the cases in which he is bound to give it, the owner may demand that the immovables be placed under administration, that the movables be sold, that the public bonds, instruments of credit payable to order or to bearer be converted into registered certificates or deposited in a bank or public institution, and that the capital or sums in cash and the proceeds of the sale of the movable property be invested in safe securities.
The interest on the proceeds of the sale of the movables and that on public securities and bonds, and the proceeds of the property placed under administration, shall belong to the usufructuary.
Furthermore, the owner may, if he so prefers, until the usufructuary gives security or is excused from so doing, retain in his possession the property in usufruct as administrator, subject to the obligation to deliver to the usufructuary the net proceeds thereof, after deducting the sums which may be agreed upon or judicially allowed him for such administration.
Article 587
If the usufructuary who has not given security claims, by virtue of a promise under oath, the delivery of the furniture necessary for his use, and that he and his family be allowed to live in a house included in the usufruct, the court may grant this petition, after due consideration of the facts of the case.
The same rule shall be observed with respect to implements, tools and other movable property necessary for an industry or vocation in which he is engaged.
If the owner does not wish that certain articles be sold because of their artistic worth or because they have a sentimental value, he may demand their delivery to him upon his giving security for the payment of the legal interest on their appraised value.
Article 588
After the security has been given by the usufructuary, he shall have a right to all the proceeds and benefits from the day on which, in accordance with the title constituting the usufruct, he should have commenced to receive them.
Article 589
The usufructuary shall take care of the things given in usufruct as a good father of a family. Article 590
A usufructuary who alienates or leases his right of usufruct shall answer for any damage which the things in usufruct may suffer through the fault or negligence of the person who substitutes him.
Article 591
If the usufruct be constituted on a flock or herd of livestock, the usufructuary shall be obliged to replace with the young thereof the animals that die each year from natural causes, or are lost due to the rapacity of beasts of prey.
If the animals on which the usufruct is constituted should all perish, without the fault of the usufructuary, on account of some contagious disease or any other uncommon event, the usufructuary shall fulfill his obligation by delivering to the owner the remains which may have been saved from the misfortune.
Should the herd or flock perish in part, also by accident and without the fault of the usufructuary, the usufruct shall continue on the part saved.
Should the usufruct be on sterile animals, it shall be considered, with respect to its effects, as though constituted on fungible things.
Article 592
The usufructuary is obliged to make the ordinary repairs needed by the thing given in usufruct. By ordinary repairs are understood such as are required by the wear and tear due to the natural use of the thing and are indispensable for its preservation.
Should the usufructuary fail to make them after demand by the owner, the latter may make them at the expense of the usufructuary.
Article 593
Extraordinary repairs shall be at the expense of the owner. The usufructuary is obliged to notify the owner when the need for such repairs is urgent.
Article 594
If the owner should make the extraordinary repairs, he shall have a right to demand of the usufructuary the legal interest on the amount expended for the time that the usufruct lasts.
Should he not make them when they are indispensable for the preservation of the thing, the usufructuary may make them; but he shall have a right to demand of the owner, at the termination of the usufruct, the increase in value which the immovable may have acquired by reason of the repairs.
Article 595
The owner may construct any works and make any improvements of which the immovable in usufruct is susceptible, or make new plantings thereon if it be rural, provided that such acts do not cause a diminution in the value of the usufruct or prejudice the right of the usufructuary.
Article 596
The payment of annual charges and taxes and of those considered as a lien on the fruits, shall be at the expense of the usufructuary for all the time that the usufruct lasts.
Article 597
The taxes which, during the usufruct, may be imposed directly on the capital, shall be at the expense of the owner.
If the latter has paid them, the usufructuary shall pay him the proper interest on the sums which may have been paid in that character; and, if the said sums have been advanced by the usufructuary, he shall recover the amount thereof at the termination of the usufruct.
Article 598
If the usufruct be constituted on the whole of a patrimony, and if at the time of its constitution the owner has debts, the provisions of articles 758 and 759 relating to donations shall be applied, both with respect to the maintenance of the usufruct and to the obligation of the usufructuary to pay such debts.
The same rule shall be applied in case the owner is obliged, at the time the usufruct is constituted, to make periodical payments, even if there should be no known capital.
Article 599
The usufructuary may claim any matured credits which form a part of the usufruct if he has given or gives the proper security. If he has been excused from giving security or has not been able to give it, or if that given is not sufficient, he shall need the authorization of the owner, or of the court in default thereof, to collect such credits.
The usufructuary who has given security may use the capital he has collected in any manner he may deem proper. The usufructuary who has not given security shall invest the said capital at interest upon agreement with the owner; in default of such agreement, with judicial authorization; and, in every case, with security sufficient to preserve the integrity of the capital in usufruct.
Article 600
The usufructuary of a mortgaged immovable shall not be obliged to pay the debt for the security of which the mortgage was constituted.
Should the immovable be attached or sold judicially for the payment of the debt, the owner shall be liable to the usufructuary for whatever the latter may lose by reason thereof.
Article 601
The usufructuary shall be obliged to notify the owner of any act of a third person, of which he may have knowledge, that may be prejudicial to the rights of ownership, and he shall be liable should he not do so, for damages, as if they had been caused through his own fault.
Article 602
The expenses, costs and liabilities in suits brought with regard to the usufruct shall be borne by the usufructuary.
CHAPTER 4
EXTINGUISHMENT OF USUFRUCT
Article 603
Usufruct is extinguished:
(1) By the death of the usufructuary, unless a contrary intention clearly appears;
(2) By the expiration of the period for which it was constituted, or by the fulfillment of any resolutory condition provided in the title creating the usufruct;
(3) By merger of the usufruct and ownership in the same person;
(4) By renunciation of the usufructuary;
(5) By the total loss of the thing in usufruct;
(6) By the termination of the right of the person constituting the usufruct; (7) By prescription.
Article 604
If the thing given in usufruct should be lost only in part, the right shall continue on the remaining part.
Article 605
Usufruct cannot be constituted in favor of a town, corporation, or association for more than fifty years. If it has been constituted, and before the expiration of such period the town is abandoned, or the corporation or association is dissolved, the usufruct shall be extinguished by reason thereof.
Article 606
A usufruct granted for the time that may elapse before a third person attains a certain age, shall subsist for the number of years specified, even if the third person should die before the period expires, unless such usufruct has been expressly granted only in consideration of the existence of such person.
Article 607
If the usufruct is constituted on immovable property of which a building forms part, and the latter should be destroyed in any manner whatsoever, the usufructuary shall have a right to make use of the land and the materials.
The same rule shall be applied if the usufruct is constituted on a building only and the same should be destroyed. But in such a case, if the owner should wish to construct another building, he shall have a right to occupy the land and to make use of the materials, being obliged to pay to the usufructuary, during the continuance of the usufruct, the interest upon the sum equivalent to the value of the land and of the materials.
Article 608
If the usufructuary shares with the owner the insurance of the tenement given in usufruct, the former shall, in case of loss, continue in the enjoyment of the new building, should one be constructed, or shall receive the interest on the insurance indemnity if the owner does not wish to rebuild.
Should the usufructuary have refused to contribute to the insurance, the owner insuring the tenement alone, the latter shall receive the full amount of the insurance indemnity in case of loss, saving always the right granted to the usufructuary in the preceding article.
Article 609
Should the thing in usufruct be expropriated for public use, the owner shall be obliged either to replace it with another thing of the same value and of similar conditions, or to pay the usufructuary the legal interest on the amount of the indemnity for the whole period of the usufruct. If the owner chooses the latter alternative, he shall give security for the payment of the interest.
Article 610
A usufruct is not extinguished by bad use of the thing in usufruct; but if the abuse should cause considerable injury to the owner, the latter may demand that the thing be delivered to him, binding himself to pay annually to the usufructuary the net proceeds of the same, after deducting the expenses and the compensation which may be allowed him for its administration.
Article 611
A usufruct constituted in favor of several persons living at the time of its constitution shall not be extinguished until the death of the last survivor.
Article 612
Upon the termination of the usufruct, the thing in usufruct shall be delivered to the owner, without prejudice to the right of retention pertaining to the usufructuary or his heirs for taxes and extraordinary expenses which should be reimbursed. After the delivery has been made, the security or mortgage shall be cancelled.