The difference between usufruct and the right of habitation

A comparison of two limited real rights as to scope, alienability and passage to heirs.

Usufruct confers the power to take fruits; habitation answers only the need to reside. Both are as a rule strictly personal and do not pass to heirs. Registration or annotation on the title is decisive if the right is to be set up against third parties.

Where rights are constituted for a surviving spouse or a donor, any contractual widening of scope is bounded by the mandatory provisions of the Civil Code. An action for cancellation is the classic path by which the owner corrects the register on termination.