THE USUFRUCT AGREEMENT AS AN UNNAMED CONTRACT IN THE CIVIL LAW OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Introduction. A usufruct agreement is a widely used legal instrument in many foreign countries, due to its ability to effectively regulate modern property relations and adapt to their evolving dynamics. At the same time, the formalization of the possibility of establishing a usufruct on the basis of an agreement reflects similar trends in the development of property relations in Ukraine.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to examine the usufruct agreement as an innominate contract in the civil law of Ukraine, to determine the peculiarities of its legal regulation, and to outline its prospects for application.

Materials and Methods. The material basis of the research comprises the provisions of legislation governing civil law relations concerning the establishment of usufruct on the basis of an agreement. In preparing the publication, general scientific and special legal research methods were used, in particular: the comparative legal method and the method of legal analysis – to study regulatory legal acts forming the legal basis of this agreement and to clarify the peculiarities of its legal nature; the system-structural method – to determine its place within the system of civil law contracts; and the method of legal forecasting – to identify prospects for the development of the legal regulation of the usufruct agreement.

Results. The legal regulation of the concept of usufruct as one of the rights in rem over another’s property and the grounds for its establishment under current national legislation, as well as under the draft Civil Code of Ukraine, are examined. It is established that the usufruct agreement, as one of the grounds for its emergence, belongs to the category of innominate contracts. In this regard, the necessity of applying general provisions of civil law on contractual obligations to it, as well as requirements regarding the compliance of its content with such provisions, is substantiated. Based on a comparative analysis of a lease (rent) agreement and a usufruct agreement, it is clarified that the specific feature of the latter is that the real right to another’s property arises not from the agreement as such, but on its basis as a legal fact.

Prospects. Further research should be aimed at an in-depth study of the legal nature of the usufruct agreement, as well as the clarification of its content and dynamics.