Legal Definitions - legal owner

A legal owner is someone who has the recognized legal right to own a property. This means that they have the legal title to the property and can exercise their rights over it. Sometimes, a legal owner may hold the title to a property for someone else's benefit.

• Trustee: A trustee is a legal owner of a property who holds the title for the benefit of another person or entity. For example, a trustee may hold the title to a property for the benefit of a trust beneficiary.
• Record Owner: A record owner is a legal owner of a property whose name appears on the official records of the property. For example, the record owner of a house is the person whose name appears on the deed.

These examples illustrate how a legal owner may hold the title to a property for someone else's benefit. In the case of a trustee, they hold the title for the benefit of a trust beneficiary. In the case of a record owner, they hold the title to the property but may not necessarily be the beneficial owner.