How would you differentiate between beneficial ownership and legal ownership?

Ownership is the right to possess, use, sell, donate or give as a gift any asset or property belonging to a person known as the “owner.” An owner can either be a beneficial owner or a legal owner.

A legal owner is essentially the ‘official’ or ‘formal’ owner of a property. The legal owner of an asset may either be a natural person or a legal person that holds the legal title of that asset.

On the other hand, a beneficial owner is the person with the right to enjoy or benefit from the property – this can include the right or entitlement to any income from the property. In majority of the situations, the same person is the legal owner as well as the beneficial owner. A beneficial owner must always be a natural person, as a legal person cannot exert “ultimate” control over an asset or entity. This is due to the fact that legal persons are always controlled, directly or indirectly, by natural persons.