Usufruct is the legal term for a person's right to use and benefit from property owned by someone else.
The concept comes from Roman law and combines two ideas: use of the property and enjoyment of its fruits or income. A usufructuary may typically occupy land, receive rents, or take produce, while another person retains ownership of the underlying asset.
Usufruct does not normally give the usufructuary unrestricted power to destroy or fundamentally alter the property. The holder must generally preserve its substance and return it, or allow it to pass to the owner, when the usufruct ends. The exact rules vary among civil-law jurisdictions.
Usufruct is different from an easement, which usually grants a limited use over another person's land, such as a right of way. It is also distinct from a leasehold, whose rights and duties arise from a lease contract. In real-estate law, the term is especially common in civil-law systems and inheritance arrangements.