Usufruct and bare ownership: splitting a French property to pass it on, when you live abroad
Splitting a property means separating ownership into two rights: usufruct, which gives the use of the home and its income, and bare ownership, which gives the disposal of the property once the usufruct ends. Families use it as a lever for passing on property, including families spread across two countries. This dossier describes the mechanism, its uses, how charges are shared and what living abroad changes.
By Jean Mascla, founder of Home SelectUpdated · 7 min read
What does splitting the ownership of a property mean?
French ownership is divisible. The full owner concentrates use, receipt of income and disposal; the split spreads these prerogatives between two people.
The usufructuary uses and collects: they live in the home or let it, receive the rent, take out the insurance. They cannot sell the property alone, nor give it away, nor alter its substance; they must preserve it for whoever comes next.
The bare owner disposes: full ownership returns to them when the usufruct ends, on the usufructuary’s death for a life usufruct, or at the agreed term for a temporary one. They can neither occupy nor let the property in the meantime, but they keep the ability to sell their bare ownership, to give it or to pledge it in the permitted forms.
The two interests reunite automatically at the end: the bare owner becomes full owner again with no further formality. The respective value of each right, decisive for a gift or for sharing a sale price, follows a statutory scale the notaire applies to the file: the usufructuary’s age, the agreed term and the nature of the property all weigh on the split, and no figure is pronounced without the deed.
What do families use it for?
Four scenarios come up constantly, including in families spread across two countries.
The gift of bare ownership with reserved usufruct: the parents give the bare ownership and keep the usufruct. They retain enjoyment or income, the transfer is set in motion during the parents’ lifetime, and the two interests will reunite later with no further operation.
The split purchase: one generation funds the usufruct, the other the bare ownership. The parents occupy or let, the children build up their right, everyone contributes according to their means.
Protecting a spouse: granting a usufruct to the spouse and the bare ownership to the children organises the life of the home after a death: one uses, the others dispose, and the property carries on.
Preparing a sale: split ownership is not improvised on the eve of selling, but a well-drafted deed anticipates the scenario of a joint sale, which waits for both qualities.
These arrangements are sometimes combined with an SCI: the company then holds the property, and it is its shares that are split between the generations.
Each party’s rights and charges
The table below summarises the split, as the law and private agreements organise it.
Quality
Rights
Duties
The usufructuary
live in or let the property, collect the income, sell their usufruct
routine upkeep, local property tax in principle, insurance of the property
The bare owner
sell or give their bare ownership, act to preserve the property
major structural repairs in principle, agreed contribution to the local property tax
Both qualities together
sell the property, give it, grant a long lease
joint decisions for every act of disposal
Co-ownership illustrates this division: depending on the subject of the resolution, one or other quality votes, the building rules organising the allocation. The local property tax, borne in principle by the usufructuary, may be shared differently by written agreement, provided everyone knows the arrangement and the managing agent is informed. Works follow the same logic as for a single-owned property: routine repairs on one side, major structural repairs on the other, with some expenses shared according to keys the notaire spells out in the deed.
How does split ownership interact with living abroad?
For a non-resident, three points call for care.
The taxation of income, first: the rent received by the usufructuary follows the French regime for a non-resident owner’s income, and the tax treaty with your country of residence can change how that income is effectively taxed.
The value of the interests in the estate, next: depending on the rules applicable to your residence, a retained usufruct may be brought back into the usufructuary’s estate or treated under other categories; foreign matrimonial and succession regimes do not always mirror the French distinction between usufruct and bare ownership.
Filing obligations, finally: each quality may have formalities of its own, in France and abroad, and their calendars do not always coincide.
These interactions vary from country to country: our country guides present the broad patterns, with no figures and no individual cases. The decision itself is made with a partner notaire for the deed and a partner tax adviser for the consequences in your country of residence. No split ownership should be signed without that double reading.
Royan, Côte atlantique
Selling a split-owned property
Yes, provided the usufructuary and the bare owner sell together: the sale covers the reunited property, and the price is shared between the two qualities according to the value of each. The typical scenario reads as follows: the family decides to sell, both interests are transferred in the same deed, and each party receives their share of the price.
If one refuses, the other cannot force the sale, short of asking a court to order a division: hence the value of writing the exit scenarios into the deed itself, prior agreement to sell, terms for sharing the price, upkeep commitments.
The sale itself follows the mechanics of our guide to selling your property from abroad: valuation, sale mandate, viewings, preliminary contract, deed.
How do you set up split ownership properly?
Three habits are enough to secure the whole arrangement.
Everything goes through a deed: gift, split purchase or agreement, split ownership is drafted and signed before a notaire, who sets the value of the rights under the applicable scale.
Internal agreements are written down: sharing of the local property tax, who covers which works, rules for a joint exit; these private arrangements organise the daily life of the split and prevent disputes.
The relevant contacts are informed: the managing agent and the insurer must know how the rights are split so that mail and charges reach the right person.
Split ownership is thought through before signing: the ages, the countries of residence and everyone’s objectives weigh as much as the mechanism itself.
What Home Select organises for split ownership
Home Select is first a property finder, on the buyer’s side: we know what serious buyers look at and what makes a sale fail at the preliminary contract. When you sell or pass on a property, your property finder frames the calendar and the documents with you, remotely.
We introduce the notaire used to sellers and heirs who live abroad, the surveyor for the diagnostics, the tax adviser and the tax representative where your country requires one. The deeds, the diagnostics and the tax are theirs, under their responsibility: our role is that everything arrives in order, without you having to fly in.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays what in a split ownership?
In principle the usufructuary bears the local property tax and routine upkeep, while the bare owner bears major structural repairs. The parties may share costs differently by written agreement. This split is settled when the deed is drawn up, with the partner notaire.
Can a split-owned property be sold?
Yes, if the usufructuary and the bare owner sell together: the sale reunites both rights and the price is shared between them according to the value of each interest. The deed is handled by a notaire, and remote signing can be arranged by proxy.
Is split ownership relevant for a non-resident?
Often, but on conditions: the taxation of income and the value of each interest in an estate depend on the treaty between France and your country of residence. Our country guides outline the main patterns, and the final decision is made with a partner notaire and a partner tax adviser.
What does splitting the ownership of a property mean?
French ownership is divisible. The full owner concentrates use, receipt of income and disposal; the split spreads these prerogatives between two people. The usufructuary uses and collects: they live in the home or let it, receive the rent, take out the insurance. They cannot sell the property alone, nor give it away, nor alter its substance; they must preserve it for whoever comes next.
What do families use it for?
Four scenarios come up constantly, including in families spread across two countries. These arrangements are sometimes combined with an SCI: the company then holds the property, and it is its shares that are split between the generations.
How do you set up split ownership properly?
Through a notarial deed, whether it is a gift, a split purchase or an agreement: the notaire sets the value of each right according to the applicable scale. The rules of shared life are then written down, how property tax is split, who pays for works, the conditions of a joint sale, and the managing agent and the insurer are told how the rights are divided.
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