A Roof Guaranteed by Law: Constituting a Right of Use Over Dominican Property

Between letting someone live in your property informally and giving them a full usufruct lies a figure Dominican practice underuses: the right of use (derecho de uso). Drawn from the Civil Code, it grants its holder the right to use another’s property, and take its fruits, to the extent of the holder’s and their family’s needs. Not to rent it out, not to exploit it commercially, not to transfer the right to anyone else: to use it. It is protection scaled to a person, not an investment.

That modesty is exactly its virtue in the situations it was made for. The parent who wants an elderly relative housed for life without giving them an asset their heirs will later fight over. The estate plan that guarantees a family member a roof while keeping the property’s economic value intact for others. The separation arrangement that secures one party’s occupancy of the family home without transferring ownership stakes. In each case, a lease would be terminable and a usufruct would give too much; the right of use gives precisely enough.

Registration converts the kindness into a right. Constituted and inscribed at the Title Registry, the derecho de uso becomes a real right opposable to third parties: the property can be sold, inherited or mortgaged, and the holder’s use survives, because everyone acquired on notice of it. Unregistered, it is a family understanding, which is to say, it lasts exactly as long as the family does.

The design choices matter and deserve drafting: duration (lifetime or term), the scope of the needs standard, the holder’s obligations toward the property, and what events end the right. These are decided at constitution, and poorly drafted ones are litigated at the worst moments, deaths, divorces, sales.

The framework is the Civil Code together with Law 108-05. Arthur & Castillo structures rights of use inside estate and family arrangements, drafted precisely, registered properly, and cancelled cleanly when they end. If someone’s housing needs to be guaranteed beyond promises, this quiet figure may be the exact tool.

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Disclaimer: This publication is not intended to provide advice or suggest a guaranteed outcome as individual situations will differ and the situation may have changed since publication. For specific advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.

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