Short answer. Fifty years. Article 605 says a usufruct cannot be constituted in favor of a town, corporation, or association for more than fifty years. And if the town is abandoned, or the corporation or association is dissolved before those fifty years run, the usufruct is extinguished at that earlier point.
What the law says
Usufruct cannot be constituted in favor of a town, corporation, or association for more than fifty years.
Civil Code, Article 605 — The Fifty-Year Limit for Entities. Read the full provision →
What the law says
before the expiration of such period the town is abandoned, or the corporation or association is dissolved, the usufruct shall be extinguished by reason thereof.
Civil Code, Article 605 — The Fifty-Year Limit for Entities. Read the full provision →
A ceiling on usufructs for juridical persons
A usufruct granted to a human being can naturally last for that person's life, since it ends when the usufructuary dies. Entities like towns, corporations, and associations have no natural lifespan, so the law must supply an outer limit. Article 605 does exactly that, providing that usufruct cannot be constituted in favor of a town, corporation, or association for more than fifty years. Without such a cap, a usufruct in favour of a corporation could tie up the owner's property for centuries, effectively separating ownership from enjoyment indefinitely, which the law will not allow.
The fifty-year limit
The maximum period is fifty years. A usufruct purporting to run longer in favour of a juridical person cannot exceed that span; the fifty-year ceiling governs. This gives the arrangement a definite end, after which the right to enjoy the property returns to the owner and full ownership is reconstituted. The limit reflects a policy against perpetual encumbrances: even a legitimate usufruct benefiting an institution must eventually release the property back to its owner rather than burdening it forever.
Earlier extinguishment on dissolution or abandonment
The fifty years is a maximum, not a guaranteed term. Article 605 adds that if, before that period expires, the town is abandoned, or the corporation or association is dissolved, the usufruct shall be extinguished by reason thereof. So the usufruct can end sooner. If the entity that holds it ceases to exist as a town, corporation, or association, the reason for the usufruct disappears with it, and the right is extinguished at that moment rather than surviving to the fifty-year mark. The property returns to the owner earlier in that event.
How this compares with a usufruct for an individual
The contrast with a usufruct in favour of a natural person is instructive. An individual's usufruct may be set for life and simply ends at death, which is a built-in, personal limit. A juridical person could otherwise persist far longer, so the law substitutes the fixed fifty-year cap and the dissolution or abandonment cut-off. For anyone granting or relying on a usufruct in favour of an organisation, the practical points are that it cannot be written to last beyond fifty years and that it will end earlier if the organisation is dissolved.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- National Housing Authority vs. Court of Appeals, et al, G.R. No. 148830, April 13, 2005 — read the decision on LawPhil →