Louisiana usufruct - responsibility for repairs
Full Question:
Answer:
A common division of ownership under Louisiana law is when one person has the use of the property and another has the ownership of it. The person with the use is said to have a usufruct of the property whereas the owner is called the naked owner.
A usufruct is the right of enjoying all the advantages derivable from the use of something that belongs to another, as far as is compatible with the substance of the thing not being destroyed or injured. Usufruct under Louisiana law is a right in real property owned by another, normally for a limited time or until death.
A usufruct is the right to use the property, to enjoy the fruits and income of the property, to rent the property out, and to collect the rents, all to the exclusion of the underlying real or naked owner. The usufructuary has the full right to use the property, but cannot dispose of the property, nor can the usufructuary allow the property to be destroyed.
So the short answer to your question whether you as usufructuary have the right to work on the house without the permission of the naked owner is: Yes. If you own the usufruct of assets, then you have the right to "use" them, but when your usufruct terminates, then those assets that you were "using" must go to the naked owners.
And the short answer to your question whether you as usufructuary act lawfully if you allow the property to be damaged or destroyed is: No. The usufructuary has only a life interest in the real property and may not damage or destroy the property or its improvements.
Two Louisiana statutes say who - the usufructuary or the naked owner - is responsible for which - ordinary or extraordinary - repairs: La.Civ.Code arts. 577 and 578.
Article 577 states: The usufructuary is responsible for ordinary maintenance and
repairs for keeping the property subject to the usufruct in good order,
whether the need for these repairs arises from accident, from the normal
use of the things, or from his fault or neglect.
Article 578 states: The naked owner is responsible for extraordinary repairs, unless
they have become necessary as a result of the usufructuary’s fault or
neglect in which case the usufructuary is bound to make them at his cost.
In 2004, a Lousiana Appellate Court decided a case on this issue. See: http://la3circuit.org/opinions/2004/09/092904/03-1722opi.pdf
Please see the information at the following links:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/usufruct
http://www.meocpa.com/usufruct.html
http://la3circuit.org/opinions/2004/09/092904/03-1722opi.pdf