Understanding Economic Assets and Property Rights

Economic Assets: Definition and Scope

An individual's economic assets consist of the total set of their assets and debts. Responsibility for debt affects all possessions held by an individual once voluntary compliance fails.

Classification of Assets

• Immovable Property: Includes mines, farms, land, and incorporated objects.
• Movable Property (Furniture): Items capable of being transported from one point to another and subject to appropriation.

Real Rights on Immovable Property

Real rights are borne directly on an object, establishing an immediate and direct relationship (e.g., an owner may prevent unauthorized entry). These rights persist regardless of the holder.

1. Classes of Real Rights

• Enjoyment: Rights to use or benefit from a property.
• Guarantee: Rights used to secure obligations.
• Acquisition: Rights that allow claims for personal gain or transmission.

2. Methods of Acquiring Property

1. Occupation: Taking possession of unclaimed items.
2. Operation of Law: Attribution to a person without a declaration of intent (e.g., usufruct for a widowed spouse).
3. Succession: Transmission due to death.
4. Prescription: Acquiring a real right through possession over time.
5. Tradition: The theory of title and mode, where the transmission of a title results in a change of property rights via contract. This involves the obligation to deliver the property, which can be material (actual delivery) or symbolic (via external symbol).

3. Publicity

Registration of ownership is generally not required for a real right, with the exception of mortgages.

4. Possession

Possession is the physical holding of an item. The holder is protected by law, ensuring that no one can forcibly remove the item against the holder's will.

5. Property Rights

Property ownership includes the broadest set of faculties, specifically the right to enjoy and dispose of an asset:

• Enjoyment: The right to use and benefit from the asset.
• Accession: The right to perform legal acts to transmit the asset.

"No one shall be deprived of their property and rights, unless for cause of public utility or social interest by compensation."

6. Other Property Rights

• Usufruct: The right to enjoy another's property with the obligation to maintain its form and substance.
• Servitude: A tax or burden on one property in favor of another belonging to a different owner (dominant vs. servient estate).
• Usucapion: An institution that gives legal effect to the passage of time. Usucapion allows for the acquisition of ownership through public and uninterrupted possession for statutory deadlines, solidifying the rights of a long-term owner.