extrapatrimonial

Extrapatrimonial is a legal term used mainly in civil-law jurisdictions to describe rights and interests that do not belong to a person’s patrimony or economic assets. These rights are personal and protected for their own sake, rather than for their potential to generate wealth. They are typically non-transferable or only transferable in very limited circumstances, and they are valued for safeguarding the individual’s dignity, autonomy, and personal integrity rather than for monetary gain.

The scope of extrapatrimonial rights varies by jurisdiction but commonly includes protections for privacy, personal identity, honor and reputation, the use of one’s name and image, and the confidentiality of correspondence. Some systems also recognize rights related to personal data and other aspects of intimate life. Because these rights concern the person rather than property, they are enforced through different remedies than those used for patrimonial claims, such as injunctions to stop harmful conduct and damages for violation of personality rights, rather than compensation for property loss alone.

Relation to patrimonial rights: Patrimonial rights arise from assets and contractual or commercial relationships and are typically transferable and objectively measurable in value. Extrapatrimonial rights are safeguarded for their intrinsic human value and are largely non-economic in nature, though violations can have financial consequences.

In a comparative context, the concept is prominent in civil-law traditions. In common-law systems, analogous protections exist under privacy, defamation, and rights of publicity, but without the same categorical label.