Land and property is owned in 2 ways – either by holding the legal interest or the beneficial interest.
Legal interest – If you are named on the title deeds in any way, then you own the legal interest to that property. This is clear cut. Owning the legal interest gives you a right to control that property so you can sell or transfer it how you please. It is also a right to possess and occupy the property.
Beneficial interest – There are any instances when ownership of a property cant be reflected in the title deeds for a variety of reasons nonetheless, there is a claim to the financial benefit of the land and such a claim is towards the beneficial interest. Such a claim could arise in a number of situations whether by agreement between the owning ad non-owning person, by default in reliance on a particular course of conduct between them or even through the parties behaviour.
It is important to differentiate between who owns the legal and beneficial interest in land as on the one hand, there may be 2 owners named on the tittle deeds indicating an equal share of the land, however they may both agree that they own the land in unequal shares. Situations can also arise where the legal owner holds the property on ‘trust’ for the real or beneficial owner, a common arrangement in family situations.