Short answer. Each periodic payment is treated as a civil fruit of the right. Under Article 570 of the Civil Code, these payments are distributed as civil fruits — meaning they accrue day by day during the usufruct period and are allocated proportionally to whoever held the usufruct on the day they accrued.
What the law says
Whenever a usufruct is constituted on the right to receive a rent or periodical pension, whether in money or in fruits, or in the interest on bonds or securities payable to bearer, each payment due shall be considered as the proceeds or fruits of such right.
Civil Code, Article 570 — Usufruct Over a Rent or Pension. Read the full provision →
Each payment is treated as a fruit
Article 570 of the Civil Code brings periodic income streams — pensions, rents, annuities, interest on bonds or bearer securities — under a clear rule. When a usufruct covers the right to receive such payments, each payment due is considered the proceeds or fruits of that right. This framing matters because the law of usufruct already has established rules for how fruits are distributed between the usufructuary and the owner — and those rules apply here. The payment is fruit, not principal, and the usufructuary is entitled to the fruit.
Distributions from business participations
Article 570 also covers a related situation: when the usufruct consists in the enjoyment of benefits from a participation in an industrial or commercial enterprise, and the date of distribution of those benefits is not fixed. Dividends, profit shares, and similar business distributions that do not arrive on a predictable schedule are treated the same way as periodic pension payments — they are considered fruits of the participation right. This means the usufructuary is entitled to those distributions as they come in during the usufruct period, regardless of when they were declared.
Distributed as civil fruits
All the payments covered by Article 570 are to be distributed as civil fruits. Civil fruits — as distinct from natural or industrial fruits — accrue from day to day. The practical implication is that if the usufruct begins or ends mid-period (for example, on a day between monthly pension payments), the payment for that month is split. The portion accruing during the usufruct period belongs to the usufructuary; the portion accruing outside the usufruct period belongs to the owner. This prevents either party from getting a windfall just because a payment happened to fall on one side or the other of a transition date.
What this means for usufruct arrangements over income streams
If you hold a usufruct over the right to a pension or regular income, you are entitled to collect those payments as they come due during your usufruct period. If the usufruct ends before a payment is made, you are entitled to the portion that accrued before termination. The owner recovers the rest. This day-by-day accrual rule also protects you: even if the owner tries to terminate the usufruct before a payment date, you do not lose the income that had already accrued. A lawyer can help you structure the arrangement and understand what happens if the usufruct ends mid-period.