l.a.a.s, thank you for clarifying a bit more. Here in Canada we have no such an agreement as a usufruto. Putting a property in trust with one person owning it and another person allowed to freely use the property is the closest we get to a usufruto.

One critical aspect of the usufruto arrangement that you might help with is how the title to the property is registered in Portugal. For example if I own the property and I want the the raiz in the names of both my children who are adults, in North America title can be registered "joint tenants with right of survivorship" or "tenants in common" with no right of survivorship. Either choice can have very different consequences in estate planning as to what happens to the property should I die. Thank you.