Legal Definitions - grantor

A grantor is the individual or entity that transfers ownership of property, typically real estate, to another party. This transfer can occur through various means, such as a sale, a gift, or a will. The person or entity receiving the property is known as the "grantee."

Here are some examples to illustrate the concept of a grantor:

• Example 1: Selling a Residential Home

  Imagine Sarah decides to sell her house to the Miller family. In this transaction, Sarah is the grantor because she is transferring the legal ownership of her property to the Millers. She signs the deed, which is the legal document that officially conveys the property from her to the new owners.

• Example 2: Gifting a Parcel of Land

  Mr. Henderson owns a large piece of undeveloped land and decides to give a portion of it to his niece, Emily, as a graduation gift. Mr. Henderson executes a deed to transfer that specific parcel of land to Emily. In this scenario, Mr. Henderson acts as the grantor, as he is voluntarily transferring his interest in the land to his niece without any monetary exchange.

• Example 3: Transferring Commercial Property to a Trust

  A business owner, Mr. Chen, decides to place his commercial office building into a revocable living trust for estate planning purposes. He signs a deed transferring the ownership of the office building from himself, as an individual, to the trust. Here, Mr. Chen is the grantor because he is the one conveying the legal title of the commercial property from his personal ownership to the trust entity.