The term ‘Beneficial Interest’ is used to describe the equity in or value of a property which is held by the owner or part owner of that property. Usually (but not always) a husband and wife (or indeed cohabiting persons) will each own 50% of equity in or value of the marital home.
When this is the case, each of them can be said to have a beneficial interest of 50% of the value of the marital home or perhaps more accurately, of the net equity in the property. The split of beneficial interest however, need not be 50-50. Depending on circumstances it could be e.g. 70-30 or even 100-0.
The term ‘Beneficial Interest’ is frequently used in the context of bankruptcy where the bankrupt person partly owns a property, often the marital home. Frequently when there is little or no equity in the property the bankrupt may be able to buy back his (or her) beneficial interest in the property for a nominal sum (normally £1) plus any legal costs of the transaction. Such a buyback of beneficial interest prevents the Official Receiver or Trustee from doing nothing regarding the property for several years and then revaluing the property within the three years allowed and taking any equity which may have grown in the property in that timescale.