Dominium utile is a form of divided ownership in the European legal tradition whereby the individual elements of property law, especially the right to use and dispose of an object (Res), were divided between different people. A typical case was the feudal relationship (Feudal law) in which the lord held the power to dispose of a fief while the vassal had the right to use it. This division of ownership rights distinguishes dominium utile from joint ownership or concurrent estate, in which all owners have the same rights to a thing.

The origins of the concept of dominium utile lie in medi…