Civil Code of Québec, 1991

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Useful disbursements made by the usufructuary are kept by the bare owner without indemnity when the usufruct ends, unless the usufructuary chooses to remove them and restore the property to its original condition.

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The usufructuary must not fell trees on the land subject to the usufruct except for repairs, maintenance, or exploitation of the land, may dispose of trees that have fallen or died naturally, and must replace destroyed trees and certain orchard and sugar bush trees, subject to an exception when most of them have been destroyed.

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A usufructuary may begin agricultural or sylvicultural operations if the land is suitable, but must not exhaust the soil or prevent forest regrowth.

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A usufructuary generally may not extract minerals from the land subject to the usufruct, except for repair and maintenance of the land.

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The usufructuary must make an inventory of the property subject to the usufruct, unless the settlor already did so or exempted the usufructuary; no exemption is allowed for a successive usufruct.

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The usufructuary may not compel delivery of the property before making an inventory.

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The usufructuary must, within 60 days after the usufruct opens, obtain insurance or provide other security to the bare owner, and must provide extra security if the obligations increase.

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If the usufructuary does not furnish security in time, the bare owner may ask for the property to be sequestrated.

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If the usufructuary unjustifiably delays making an inventory or furnishing security, he loses the right to the fruits and revenues until he performs those obligations.

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The usufructuary may ask the court for leave to keep sequestrated movables needed for his use, if he undertakes to return them at the end of the usufruct.

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The usufructuary must insure the property against ordinary risks like fire and theft and pay the premiums while the usufruct lasts, unless the premium is too high in relation to the risks.

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If there is a loss, the usufructuary must use the indemnity to repair the property, except in a total loss case.

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The usufructuary or the bare owner may take out insurance on their own account to secure their rights, and the indemnity belongs to whichever of them is entitled to it.

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The usufructuary is responsible for maintaining the property and generally does not have to make major repairs.

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This section defines “major repairs” as repairs affecting a substantial part of the property and requiring extraordinary outlays.

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The usufructuary must tell the bare owner when major repairs are needed.

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The usufructuary must pay ordinary charges on the property, other charges usually paid from revenues, and certain extraordinary charges paid by instalments over several years.

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1155. If a usufructuary by particular title is forced to pay a debt of the succession in order to retain the property subject to his right, he may require immediate reimbursement from the debtor or reimbursement from the bare owner at the

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The usufructuary by general title and the bare owner must pay the succession’s debts in proportion to their shares.

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The usufructuary by general title may pay the succession’s debts; if the usufructuary does not pay, the bare owner may sell property subject to the usufruct up to the debt amount or pay the debts personally.

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The usufructuary must pay legal costs for judicial applications related to the usufruct.

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If a third person encroaches on the property or infringes the bare owner’s rights during the usufruct, the usufructuary must notify the bare owner.

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A bare owner and a usufructuary are not required to replace things that have decayed; a usufructuary who is exempted from insuring the property also does not have to replace or pay for property lost by superior force.

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If a herd or flock under usufruct perishes by superior force, the usufructuary exempted from insuring it must account to the owner for the skins or their value. If the herd or flock does not perish entirely, the usufructuary must replace the animals that perished, up to the amount of the increase.

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Usufruct ends if the term expires, the usufructuary dies, the legal person dissolves, one person becomes both usufructuary and bare owner (subject to third-party rights), the right is forfeited or renounced, or there is non-use for 10 years.

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Usufruct ends if the property is totally lost, unless the property is insured by the usufructuary.

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Expropriation does not extinguish a usufruct on the property, and the indemnity must be paid to the usufructuary subject to accounting for it at the end of the usufruct.

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If a usufruct lasts until a third person reaches a certain age, it ends on the date that person would have reached that age, even if the person has died.

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A usufruct for several successive usufructuaries ends when the last usufructuary dies or the last legal person is dissolved.

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At the end of a usufruct, the usufructuary must return the property to the bare owner in its then condition.

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A usufructuary who abuses the usufruct or harms the bare owner’s rights may lose the usufruct.

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A usufructuary may renounce the right, in whole or in part.

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Total renunciation can be asserted against the bare owner once notice is served; partial renunciation can be asserted from judicial applications or an agreement between the parties.

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A usufructuary with serious difficulty performing obligations may require the bare owner or another usufructuary to convert the right into an annuity.

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A right of use lets its holder temporarily use another person’s property and take its fruits and revenues, limited by the needs of the user and the people living with them or their dependants.

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1173. The right of use may not be assigned or seized unless the agreement or the act establishing the right of use provides otherwise. If the agreement or act is silent as to whether the right may be assigned or seized, the court may, in

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A user whose right covers only part of a property may use any facility intended for common use.

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A user who takes all the fruits and revenues of property, or uses all of it, must bear the related costs, repairs, and charges; if the user takes or uses only part, the user pays in proportion to use.

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1176. The provisions governing usufruct, adapted as required, are, in all other respects, applicable to the right of use. However, the rules relating to conversion of the usufruct into an annuity do not apply to the right of use unless

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A servitude is a charge on the servient land for the benefit of the dominant land, and the servient owner must tolerate certain uses or refrain from exercising certain ownership rights.

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An obligation may be attached to a servitude and imposed on the owner of the servient land.

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Servitudes are classified as continuous or discontinuous.

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A servitude is apparent if it is shown by an external sign; otherwise it is unapparent.

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A servitude may be created by contract, will, the owner’s destination, or operation of law, but not without title.

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Servitudes are not affected when ownership of the servient or dominant land is transferred.

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The landowner must put the servitude by destination of the owner in writing.

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The owner of the dominant land may do necessary work for the servitude at his own expense, unless the servitude deed says otherwise.

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The owner of servient land may ազատ himself of the charge by abandoning all of the servient land, or enough of it to allow exercise of the servitude, to the owner of the dominant land.

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The owner of the dominant land must not make changes that worsen the servient land. The owner of the servient land must not do anything that reduces the exercise of the servitude or makes it less convenient, but may transfer the servitude site elsewhere at their own expense if they have an interest and the move is no less convenient for the dominant owner.

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If the dominant land is divided, the servitude remains for each portion, but the servient land must not be made worse. For a right of way, all owners of lots created from the division must use it over the same place.

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Dividing the servient land does not affect the rights of the dominant land owner.

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1189. Except in the case of land enclosed by that of others, a servitude of right of way may be redeemed where its usefulness to the dominant land is out of proportion to the inconvenience or depreciation it entails for the servient

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The parties may agree in writing to exclude the possibility of redeeming a servitude for up to 30 years.

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A servitude ends if one person becomes both owners, the dominant owner expressly renounces it, the term expires, it is redeemed, or it is unused for 10 years.

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For discontinuous servitudes, prescription starts when the dominant owner stops exercising the servitude; for continuous servitudes, it starts when an act contrary to the servitude’s exercise is done.

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1193. The mode of exercising a servitude may be prescribed just as the servitude itself, and in the same manner. 1991, c. 64, a. 1193.

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1194. Prescription runs even where the dominant land or the servient land undergoes a change of such a kind as to render exercise of the servitude impossible. 1991, c. 64, a. 1194.

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Emphyteusis gives a person, for a limited time, the full benefit and use of another’s immovable if the person does not endanger it and undertakes lasting value-increasing works.

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Emphyteusis on land or an existing building may be the subject of a declaration of co-emphyteusis.

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The constituting act must set the term of the emphyteusis, and the term must be between 10 and 100 years.

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1198. Emphyteusis on land on which a building held in co-ownership is built, or both on land and an existing building, may be renewed without the emphyteuta being required to make new constructions or plantations or new works, other than

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A creditor of the emphyteuta may have the emphyteuta’s rights seized and sold, subject to the owner’s rights; a creditor of the owner may also have the owner’s rights seized and sold, subject to the emphyteuta’s rights.

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The emphyteuta has owner-like rights in the immovable, subject to restrictions in the chapter and the constituting act.

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The emphyteuta must have a statement of the immovables subject to his right drawn up at his own expense after convening the owner, unless the owner exempts him.

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The emphyteuta remains liable for full payment of the price if the immovable suffers partial loss.

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The emphyteuta must make repairs, including major repairs, to the immovable or related constructions, works, or plantations made in performing the obligation.

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If an emphyteuta wastes or endangers the immovable or the owner’s rights, the court may terminate the emphyteusis, order security or other conditions, and the emphyteuta may forfeit his right.

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The emphyteuta is liable for all property charges against the immovable.

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The owner has the same obligations toward the emphyteuta as a seller.

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The owner may apply to resiliate the constituting act if the emphyteuta has not paid a fixed lump-sum or instalment price for three years and at least 90 days’ notice has been given.

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Emphyteusis ends if the term in the constituting act expires, the immovable is totally lost or expropriated, the constituting act is resiliated, ownership and emphyteuta status merge in one person, there is non-use for 10 years, or it is abandoned.

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When emphyteusis ends, the owner recovers the immovable free of the rights and charges granted by the emphyteuta, except in the stated exceptions.

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When the emphyteusis ends, the emphyteuta must return the immovable in good repair with the stipulated constructions, works, or plantations, unless they were destroyed by superior force.

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Emphyteusis may be terminated by abandonment, but only if the emphyteuta has not renounced the right, has fulfilled all past obligations, and leaves the immovable free of charges.

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A restriction on disposing of property may only be set by gift or will.

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The court may authorize a person whose property is inalienable to dispose of it if the reason for inalienability has disappeared or a greater interest requires it.

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A stipulation of inalienability cannot be set up against third persons unless it is published in the appropriate register.

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A stipulation of inalienability makes the property unseizable for certain debts, subject to the Code of Civil Procedure.

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A clause that stops a person with inalienable property from challenging the inalienability clause or seeking authorization to alienate the property is treated as if it were not written; the same applies to a penal clause with that effect.

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Only the person who made the stipulation, that person's successors, or the beneficiary of the stipulation may invoke the nullity of an alienation made despite an inalienability stipulation and without court authorization.

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Substitution exists when someone receives property by a liberality and must pass it to a third person after a certain period.

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The section defines who is called the institute and who is called the substitute, and says a substitute who takes with the obligation to hand over becomes the institute for the next substitute.

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If a donee or legatee is prohibited from disposing of property by will, the remaining property passes by substitution to the donee or legatee’s intestate heirs at death.

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A substitution cannot run beyond two successive ranks after the initial institute.

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This section says the succession rules, adapted as needed, apply to a substitution from the time it opens, whether the substitution was created by gift or by will.

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Before a substitution opens, the institute owns the substituted property.

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The institute must make an inventory of the property within two months after the gift or acceptance of the legacy, after convening the substitute.

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The institute must act prudently and diligently when exercising rights and performing obligations, while considering the substitute’s rights.

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1226. The institute shall perform all acts necessary to maintain and preserve the property. He pays the charges and debts of all kinds that became due before the opening; he collects the claims, gives acquittance therefor and exercises all

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The institute must insure the property against ordinary risks such as fire and theft, unless the premium is too high in relation to the risks.

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An institute’s right to begin or continue agricultural, sylvicultural, or mining operations on substituted land is governed by the rules on usufruct.

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1229. An institute may alienate the substituted property by onerous title or lease it. He may also charge it with a hypothec if that is required for its maintenance and preservation or to make an investment in the name of the

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The institute must reinvest the proceeds from alienating substituted property, and capital paid before opening or received from the grantor, under the rules for investments presumed sound.

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The institute must tell the substitute, every year on the anniversary of the property inventory date, about changes in the property’s general mass and about any reinvestment of proceeds from property sales.

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If the act of substitution allows it, the institute may dispose of the substituted property without charge or choose not to reinvest the sale proceeds; it may not bequeath the property unless the act expressly permits that.

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Some creditors may have substituted property seized and sold under judicial authority, and the substitute may oppose that seizure and seek to limit it.

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The institute may, before the substitution opens, renounce his rights in favour of the substitute and hand over the substituted property in advance.

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Before the substitution opens, the substitute has an eventual right to the substituted property and may renounce or dispose of that right, and take conservatory acts to protect it.

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If the institute does not make the inventory on time, the substitute may do it at the institute’s expense.

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The institute must take out insurance or provide other security if required by the creating act or ordered by the court, and must provide additional security if its obligations increase before the substitution opens.

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If the institute fails to perform its obligations or endangers the substitute’s rights, the court may impose measures against the institute.

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A substitute who is not yet conceived has rights exercised by a designated curator, or by a court-appointed person if there is no designation or acceptance. The Public Curator may be designated to act.

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The substitution opens when the institute dies, unless the grantor fixed an earlier time.

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If a substitution is stipulated to pass a share to surviving institutes, it opens only when the last institute dies.

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A person may be a substitute only if they have the required qualities to receive by gift or by will when the substitution opens.

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1243. The substitute who accepts the substitution receives the property directly from the grantor and is, by the opening, seised of ownership of the property. 1991, c. 64, a. 1243.

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The institute must account to the substitute at the opening and hand over the substituted property.

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The institute must hand over the property in the condition it is in when the substitution begins.

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If only the residue of the gifted or bequeathed property is subject to substitution, the institute must hand over the remaining property and the balance of proceeds from any alienated property.

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The institute is entitled to reimbursement in specified cases, including interest from the opening.

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The institute is entitled to reimbursement for useful disbursements, subject to the rules applicable to possessors in good faith.

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When a substitution opens, the claims and debts between the institute and the grantor are revived, and the institute’s creditor-and-debtor status is ended, except for interest accrued up to that opening.

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The institute may keep the substituted property until the amount owed to it is paid.

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The heirs of the institute must carry out the institute’s obligations under this section and continue necessary follow-on acts that cannot be delayed without risk of loss. They also have the same rights this section gives the institute.

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If a testamentary substitution lapses for an institute, representation does not apply; the benefit goes to co-institutes or, if none exist, the substitute. If it lapses for a substitute, it benefits co-substitutes or otherwise the institute.

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The donor may revoke the substitution before opening, if it has not already been accepted by or for the substitute.

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If a substitution is revoked, the benefit goes to the co-institute if there is one; otherwise it goes to the substitute. If the revocation concerns the substitute, the benefit goes to the co-substitute if there is one; otherwise it goes to the institute.

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The grantor may reserve the right to determine the substitutes’ share or give that right to the institute.

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A foundation is created when a person irrevocably sets aside all or part of their property for a lasting socially beneficial purpose.

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1257. The property of the foundation constitutes either an autonomous patrimony distinct from that of the settlor or any other person, or the patrimony of a legal person. In the first case, the foundation is governed by the provisions of

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1258. A foundation created by trust is established by gift or by will in accordance with the rules governing those acts. 1991, c. 64, a. 1258.

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The initial patrimony of a trust foundation, and property later subrogated or added to it, must be preserved unless the foundation’s constituting act provides otherwise.

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A trust results when a settlor transfers property to a separate patrimony for a specific purpose, and a trustee accepts to hold and administer it.

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1261. The trust patrimony, consisting of the property transferred in trust, constitutes a patrimony by appropriation, autonomous and distinct from that of the settlor, trustee or beneficiary and in which none of them has any real

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A trust may be established by contract, by will, by law in certain cases, or by judgment when authorized by law.

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A trust set up by onerous contract may secure performance of an obligation, and if it is to be effective against third persons it must be published in the relevant register. If the settlor defaults, the trustee is governed by the rules on exercise of hypothecary rights.

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A trust is constituted when the trustee accepts the office; if there are several trustees, acceptance by one is enough.

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If a trust is accepted, the trustee must handle appropriation of the property and administration of the trust patrimony, the settlor is divested of the property, and the beneficiary’s right is established with certainty.

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Trusts are for personal purposes or private or social utility, and a designated trust may be identified by the names of the grantor, trustee, or beneficiary, or by a name reflecting its object in the private/social utility case.

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1267. A personal trust is constituted gratuitously for the purpose of securing a benefit for a determinate or determinable person. 1991, c. 64, a. 1267.

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1268. A private trust has as its object the erection, maintenance or preservation of corporeal property or the use of property appropriated to a specific use, whether for the indirect benefit of a person or in his memory, or for some other

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1269. A trust constituted by onerous title for the purpose, in particular, of allowing the making of profit by means of investments, providing for retirement or procuring another benefit for the settlor or for the persons he designates or

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A social trust must be for a purpose of general interest and not have profit-making or operating an enterprise as its essential object.

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A personal trust for several successive beneficiaries may not have more than two ranks of fruit-and-revenue beneficiaries, besides the capital beneficiary.

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A beneficiary’s right must open within 100 years after the trust is constituted; a legal person cannot be a beneficiary for more than 100 years.

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A private or social trust may be perpetual.

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A natural person with full civil rights, and a legal person authorized by law, may act as a trustee.

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A settlor or beneficiary may serve as a trustee, but must act jointly with another trustee who is neither a settlor nor a beneficiary.

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The settlor may appoint one or more trustees, or set the method for appointing or replacing them.

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The court may appoint a trustee, or additional trustees, when requested and when notice has been given, if the settlor failed to appoint one or appointment or replacement is impossible.

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A trustee controls and exclusively administers the trust patrimony, has the rights attached to it, and may take proper measures to secure its appropriation.

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A person may be a beneficiary of a gratuitous trust only if, when the person's right opens, the person has the qualities required to receive by gift or by will.

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A trust beneficiary may receive only if the conditions in the constituting act are met.

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The settlor may reserve the right to receive the trust’s fruits and revenues, and in some cases its capital or benefits.

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The settlor may reserve or delegate the power to appoint beneficiaries or set their shares.

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A person with power to appoint beneficiaries or determine their shares may exercise that power as they see fit, but not for their own benefit.

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While the trust is in effect, the beneficiary may require the benefit promised by the constituting act, or payment of the fruits and revenues and capital, or one or the other.

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A beneficiary of a gratuitous trust is presumed to accept the right granted and may dispose of it.

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If a beneficiary renounces a right or the right lapses, it passes to co-beneficiaries in the same category, in proportion to each share.

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A trust’s administration is supervised by the settlor, or by the settlor’s heirs if the settlor has died, and by the beneficiary, including a future beneficiary.

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A trustee must file a statement with the supervising person or body when a private or social trust is constituted, and must let that person or body inspect trust records and provide requested accounts, reports, or information.

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1289. The rights of the beneficiary of a personal trust, if he is not yet conceived, are exercised by the person who, having been designated by the settlor to act as curator, accepts the office or, failing him, by the person appointed by

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1290. The settlor, the beneficiary or any other interested person may, notwithstanding any stipulation to the contrary, take action against the trustee to compel him to perform his obligations or to perform any act which is necessary in

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The court may authorize the settlor, beneficiary, or another interested person to act in judicial proceedings instead of the trustee if the trustee refuses, neglects, or is unable to act without sufficient reason.

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The trustee, settlor, and beneficiary are jointly and severally liable for participating in acts done to defraud the settlor’s creditors or the trust property.

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Any person may add property to a trust patrimony by contract or by will, if the transfer follows the rules for creating a trust.

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A court may terminate a trust, replace its purpose in a social trust, or amend the trust deed if the trust’s original intent is no longer being met or if new measures would better carry out that intent.

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Notice of the application must be given to the settlor and trustee, and sometimes to the beneficiary, the settlor’s liquidator or heirs, and any other person or body designated by law.

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A trust ends when all beneficiaries renounce or lose their rights, or when the trust term ends, its condition is fulfilled, its purpose is achieved, or court-confirmed impossibility prevents achievement.

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When a trust ends, the trustee must hand over the trust property to the persons entitled to it.

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