What is defined as the actual ownership of property?

The correct answer is legal title, which refers to the formal right to ownership of property. This term is used to describe the person or entity that has the title vested in them and is recognized by law as the owner of the property, with the rights and responsibilities that come with that ownership. Legal title grants the owner the authority to use, sell, or transfer the property and to enforce any rights associated with it.

Equitable title, while also related to ownership, represents a person's interest in the property, which may not yet include the full legal rights associated with ownership. It often arises in situations such as trusts or sales contracts where the equitable titleholder has a claim to the benefit of ownership, but they do not hold the legal title currently.

Servient estate and dominant estate pertain specifically to easements. The servient estate is the property that is burdened by an easement, while the dominant estate benefits from that easement. These terms do not directly refer to ownership in the general sense, and therefore, are not applicable in the context of defining actual ownership of property.