Legal title

Equitable versus legal title

At common law, equitable title is the right to obtain full ownership of property, where another maintains legal title to the property. In the United States, legal titles are those that were recognized by the law courts in England. Equitable titles were those recognized by the English chancery courts. Both of these concepts were adopted by the various states upon their creation except, possibly, those based upon European Civil Law, such as Louisiana. Most states have merged the law and equity courts into a single court system, although there may still be law and chancery divisions in some of the systems.