Simple English definitions for legal terms
Read a random definition: Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (2009)
Dismemberments of Ownership: In civil law, ownership is made up of three parts: the right to use something (usus), the right to enjoy its fruits (fructus), and the right to dispose of it (abusus). These parts can be separated and given to different people as independent rights, such as the right to use something, the right to enjoy its fruits, or the right to use it as collateral.
Dismemberments of ownership refer to the three elements that make up the right of ownership in civil law. These elements are:
The right of ownership can be dismembered, meaning that these three elements can be separated and conveyed as independent real rights. For example, someone may have the right to use a property (usus) without owning it, or someone may have the right to enjoy the fruits of a property (fructus) without owning it.
An example of dismemberment of ownership is a landlord renting out a property to a tenant. The tenant has the right to use the property (usus) and enjoy the fruits of it (fructus) by living in it and paying rent, but the landlord retains the right of disposal (abusus) by owning the property and being able to sell it or make changes to it.