A beneficial interest is the right that a person has arising from a contract to which they are not a party, or a trust. For example, if A makes a contract with B that A will pay C a certain sum of money, B has the legal interest in the contract, and C the beneficial interest.
More generally, a beneficial interest is any "interest of value, worth, or
use
Use may refer to:
* Use (law), an obligation on a person to whom property has been conveyed
* Use (liturgy), a special form of Roman Catholic ritual adopted for use in a particular diocese
* Use–mention distinction, the distinction between using ...
in
property
Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...
one does not own", for example, "the interest that a
beneficiary
A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the person ...
of a
trust has in the trust".
[''Ballentine's Law Dictionary'', p. 48 (Legal Assistant edition, 1994).] More specifically, it could be:
* "A property interest that inures solely to the benefit of the owner", or
* Property that "remains of an
estate after the payment of debts and the expenses of administration", or
* The right of a person having a
power of appointment to appoint himself".
[
''Black's Law Dictionary'' defines beneficial interest as "Profit, benefit or advantage resulting from a contract, or the ownership of an estate as distinct from the legal ownership or control."]["beneficial interest"]
''Law Dictionary'' Examples of beneficial interests in mining claims include unrecorded deeds and agreements to share profits, but not mortgages and other liens.Ontario Government web site
- ''Cf.'' definition of real property
In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or aff ...
as including mortgages and other liens. A beneficial interest is also "distinguished from the rights of someone like a trustee or official who has responsibility to perform and/or title to the assets but does not share in the benefits".
[
]
See also
* Asset protection
*Beneficial owner
Beneficial owner is a legal term where specific property rights ("use and title") in equity belong to a person even though legal title of the property belongs to another person. Beneficial owner is subject to a state's statutory laws regulating i ...
*Beneficial use
"Beneficial use" is a legal term describing a person's right to enjoy the benefits of specific property, especially a view or access to light, air, or water, even though title to that property is held by another person. It is also referred to as " ...
*Corporate benefit
The interest of the company (sometimes company benefit or commercial benefit) is a concept that the board of directors in corporations are in most legal systems required to use their powers for the commercial benefit of the company and its members ...
*Lien
A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the per ...
* Purpose trust
* Quistclose trust
*Resulting trust
A resulting trust is an implied trust that comes into existence by operation of law, where property is transferred to someone who pays nothing for it; and then is implied to have held the property for benefit of another person. The trust property ...
*Use (law)
Use, as a term in real property of common law countries, amounts to a recognition of the duty of a person to whom property has been conveyed for certain purposes, to carry out those purposes. In this context "use" is equivalent to "benefit".
U ...
*Third-party beneficiary
A third-party beneficiary, in the law of contracts, is a person who may have the right to sue on a contract, despite not having originally been an active party to the contract. This right, known as a ''ius quaesitum tertio'', arises when the thi ...
* Trust (law)
References
{{law-term-stub
Property law
Wills and trusts
Contract law