In a trust of land with co-owners, how is the legal estate held?

• A. Legal estate is held by trustees by way of joint tenancy
• B. Legal estate is held by the purchasers personally
• C. Legal estate is held by the mortgagee
• D. Legal estate is held by the Crown

Answer: (A)

In a trust of land, the legal title is held by the trustees, not by the individual beneficiaries. When there are multiple co-owners acting as trustees, they hold the legal estate together as joint trustees (joint tenancy). This means the land is managed and owned in law by the trustees as a single unit, with survivorship among them as the default arrangement, while the beneficiaries hold the equitable (beneficial) interests in the trust.

The other options don’t fit because the legal title isn’t held by the purchasers personally (they would be beneficiaries, not the legal owners unless they’re also trustees), it isn’t held by the mortgagee (the mortgagee has a security interest, not the legal title itself), and it isn’t held by the Crown (only in rare escheat situations does the Crown hold title).