LEGAL. That which is according to law. It is used in opposition to equitable,
as the legal estate is, in the trustee, the equitable estate in the cestui que
trust. Vide Powell on Mortg. Index, h. t.
2. The party who has the legal title, has alone the right to seek a remedy for
a wrong to his estate, in a court of law, though he may have no beneficial
interest in it. The equitable owner, is he who has not the legal estate, but is
entitled to the beneficial interest.
3. The person who holds the legal estate for the benefit of another, is called
a trustee; he who has the beneficiary interest and does not hold the legal
title, is called the beneficiary, or more technically, the cestui que trust.
4. When the trustee has a claim, he must enforce his right in a court of
equity, for he cannot sue any one at law, in his own name; 1 East, 497; 8 T. R.
332; 1 Saund. 158, n. 1; 2 Bing. 20; still less can he in such court sue his
own trustee. 1 East, 497.
LEGAL ESTATE. One, the right to which may be enforced in a court of law. It is
distinguished from an equitable estate, the rights to which can be established
only in a court of equity. 2 Bouv. Inst. n. 1688.
Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10
