Short answer. It depends on what the usufruct document says. Article 598 borrows the donation rules in Articles 758 and 759: if the usufruct imposes payment of the owner's debts, the usufructuary only answers for debts already contracted, capped at the property's value; if it says nothing, he pays only if the arrangement was made in fraud of creditors.
What the law says
If the usufruct be constituted on the whole of a patrimony, and if at the time of its constitution the owner has debts, the provisions of articles 758 and 759 relating to donations shall be applied, both with respect to the maintenance of the usufruct and to the obligation of the usufructuary to pay such debts.
Civil Code, Article 598 — Usufruct of an Entire Patrimony. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The same rule shall be applied in case the owner is obliged, at the time the usufruct is constituted, to make periodical payments, even if there should be no known capital.
Civil Code, Article 598 — Usufruct of an Entire Patrimony. Read the full provision →
What the law says
When the donation imposes upon the donee the obligation to pay the debts of the donor, if the clause does not contain any declaration to the contrary, the former is understood to be liable to pay only the debts which appear to have been previously contracted.
Civil Code, Article 758 — Donee's Liability For Donor's Debts. Read the full provision →
What the law says
In no case shall the donee be responsible for the debts exceeding the value of the property donated, unless a contrary intention clearly appears.
Civil Code, Article 758 — Donee's Liability For Donor's Debts. Read the full provision →
What the law says
There being no stipulation regarding the payment of debts, the donee shall be responsible therefor only when the donation has been made in fraud of creditors.
Civil Code, Article 759 — Donations In Fraud Of Creditors. Read the full provision →
What the law says
The donation is always presumed to be in fraud of creditors, when at the time thereof the donor did not reserve sufficient property to pay his debts prior to the donation.
Civil Code, Article 759 — Donations In Fraud Of Creditors. Read the full provision →
Article 598 borrows the donation rules rather than setting its own
Article 598 does not create a separate rule for debts when a usufruct covers an entire patrimony — instead, it says the provisions of articles 758 and 759 relating to donations shall be applied, both with respect to the maintenance of the usufruct and to the obligation of the usufructuary to pay such debts. This means the question of whether the usufructuary must pay the owner's existing debts is answered by looking at how the law treats a donee's obligation to pay a donor's debts, applied here to the usufructuary instead.
If the usufruct document says the usufructuary must pay
Under Article 758, if the arrangement imposes upon the donee the obligation to pay the debts of the donor — here, the usufructuary — then unless it says otherwise, he is understood to be liable to pay only the debts which appear to have been previously contracted, and even then in no case shall the donee be responsible for the debts exceeding the value of the property donated, meaning the value of what the usufruct actually covers, unless a contrary intention clearly appears.
If the usufruct document says nothing about the debts
Where the arrangement is silent, Article 759 applies instead: the usufructuary is responsible for the owner's debts only when the donation has been made in fraud of creditors. And that fraud is not always something that has to be separately proven — the same article says the arrangement is always presumed to be in fraud of creditors, when at the time thereof the donor did not reserve sufficient property to pay his debts prior to the donation, shifting the burden onto whoever wants to show otherwise.
The same rule applies to periodical payments, even without known capital
Article 598's final sentence extends this same framework beyond debts in the strict sense: the same rule shall be applied in case the owner is obliged, at the time the usufruct is constituted, to make periodical payments, even if there should be no known capital. So an obligation to make recurring payments is treated the same way as an existing debt for purposes of deciding whether the usufructuary bears responsibility for it.
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 598 — Usufruct of an Entire Patrimony
- Civil Code, Article 758 — Donee's Liability For Donor's Debts
- Civil Code, Article 759 — Donations In Fraud Of Creditors