LA Notary - Louisiana Notary Exam Property Law (Things, Ownership, and Usufruct) 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Louisiana Civil Code, which of the following best describes an 'incorporeal' thing?
- A thing that cannot be moved from place to place without damage
- A thing that has no physical body and exists only as a legal right (Correct answer)
- A thing that is permanently attached to the soil by nature
- A thing held in co-ownership by two or more persons
Correct answer: A thing that has no physical body and exists only as a legal right
Louisiana Civil Code Article 461 defines incorporeal things as those having no body but comprehended by the intellect, such as rights of usufruct, predial servitudes, and obligations. They contrast with corporeal things, which have a physical existence.
Question 2: Under Louisiana Civil Code, what is a predial servitude?
- A personal right granted to a named individual to use another person's immovable
- A charge on a servient estate for the benefit of a dominant estate owned by a different person (Correct answer)
- A mortgage placed on agricultural land to secure a debt
- A right of an heir to receive immovable property at the owner's death
Correct answer: A charge on a servient estate for the benefit of a dominant estate owned by a different person
Louisiana Civil Code Article 646 defines a predial servitude as a charge imposed on one estate (the servient estate) for the benefit of another estate (the dominant estate) belonging to a different owner. It attaches to the land, not to any specific individual.
Question 3: Under Louisiana Civil Code, what standard of care is required of a usufructuary in managing property subject to usufruct?
- The usufructuary must manage the property exactly as the naked owner directs
- The usufructuary must manage the property as an absolute owner with no restrictions
- The usufructuary must manage the property as a prudent administrator (Correct answer)
- The usufructuary has no affirmative duty to maintain or preserve the property
Correct answer: The usufructuary must manage the property as a prudent administrator
Louisiana Civil Code Article 579 requires the usufructuary to use the thing as a prudent administrator, preserving its substance and not impairing the rights of the naked owner. This standard protects the naked owner's ultimate interest in recovering the property.
Question 4: Under Louisiana Civil Code, how does a usufruct of consumables (quasi-usufruct) differ from an ordinary usufruct?
- It applies only to immovable property and terminates after ten years
- The usufructuary may consume the things but must return items of the same quantity, quality, and value at termination (Correct answer)
- It can be created only by last will and testament and requires court approval
- The usufructuary has no obligation to account for or return anything at the end
Correct answer: The usufructuary may consume the things but must return items of the same quantity, quality, and value at termination
Louisiana Civil Code Article 536 provides that when a usufruct covers consumable things such as money or food, the usufructuary may consume them but must restore things of the same quantity, quality, and value, or their value if restoration in kind is impossible, at the end of the usufruct.
Question 5: Under Louisiana Civil Code, which event causes a usufruct to terminate by operation of law?
- The sale of the property subject to usufruct by the naked owner
- The bankruptcy or insolvency of the naked owner
- The death of the usufructuary (Correct answer)
- The usufructuary's failure to file an inventory within one year
Correct answer: The death of the usufructuary
Louisiana Civil Code Article 607 provides that a usufruct terminates upon the death of the usufructuary. Because usufruct is a personal right, it does not pass to the usufructuary's heirs and cannot survive the person in whom it vested.
Question 6: Under Louisiana Civil Code, what are 'public things,' and which of the following is the most accurate description?
- Things owned by private corporations but made available to the general public
- Things owned by the state or its political subdivisions and dedicated to public use, such as navigable rivers and public roads (Correct answer)
- Things that have been abandoned by their owners and are available for anyone to acquire
- Things held in indivision by more than five co-owners who have not partitioned them
Correct answer: Things owned by the state or its political subdivisions and dedicated to public use, such as navigable rivers and public roads
Louisiana Civil Code Article 450 defines public things as those owned by the state or its political subdivisions in their capacity as public persons and dedicated to common use, including navigable rivers, the sea shore, harbors, and public roads. They are not susceptible of private ownership while so dedicated.
LA Notary - Louisiana Notary Exam Property Law (Things, Ownership, and Usufruct) 1
Under Louisiana Civil Code, which of the following best describes an 'incorporeal' thing?