The Provincial Court of Madrid has sentenced a man to pay 24,185 euros for having lived for more than a decade in the apartment that his partner gave him. bequeathed in will without assuming any of the expenses associated with its use. Although the legacy of use and habitation for life was never formalized, the court considers that the defendant enjoyed the property as if he were a usufructuary, so he should have faced the community expenses, heating, water and taxes, and will have to pay them to the heir who had assumed them for years.
According to the ruling of July 28, 2025, the house located in the center of Madrid was bequeathed by the man’s partner, who died in 2007. Since then, he lived in the apartment without paying any expenses, while the heir company, owner of the bare propertypaid all the bills and taxes associated with the property.
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The Court of First Instance No. 92 of Madrid dismissed the heir’s claim, considering that since the legacy had not been accepted in a public deed, the man could not be considered usufructuary and, consequently, was not obliged to pay the claimed expenses.
He enjoyed the apartment and, therefore, had to pay
The Provincial Court of Madrid partially revoked that decision, considering it proven that the man occupied and enjoyed the apartment since the death of his partner and that, therefore, he must assume the expenses derived from the use of the property, even though there was no formal delivery of the legacy.
The Chamber based its reasoning on article 500 of the Civil Code, which establishes that “the usufructuary must pay the ordinary expenses of preserving the property and the annual charges that affect the usufruct.” Furthermore, he recalled that the continued use of the property implies a tacit acceptance of the legacy, with all the legal consequences that this entails.
Therefore, the fact of not having formalized the acceptance of the legacy does not exempt the legatee from his economic responsibilities, given that “the continued possession of the property is equivalent to the tacit acceptance of the legacy and generates the obligations inherent to its enjoyment.”
Furthermore, article 504 of the Civil Code states that the usufructuary is obliged to pay contributions and taxes that are considered liens on the fruits, such as the Real Estate Tax (IBI).
SCREEN CAPTURE ARTICLE 504 CC
For all this, the man was sentenced to pay 24,185 euros, corresponding to community expenses, heating, water and IBI documented between the years 2017 and 2020. However, the sentence was not final and an appeal could be filed against it before the Supreme Court.