Grantee
A grantee is the party receiving an interest in real property under a deed. The name that appears creates the record of ownership going forward.
Getting it right matters more than most buyers realise, because the deed does not merely identify the new owner — it determines how the interest is held.
Vesting language#
Where two or more people take title together, the deed's wording decides which form of co-ownership applies.
Joint tenants with right of survivorship. On the death of one, the interest passes automatically to the survivor. No probate, no court, nothing to file beyond evidence of death.
Tenants in common. Each holds a separate share. On death, that share passes under the will or by intestacy — through probate.
Same two names on the same deed, entirely different consequence. The difference is a phrase.
Why it matters so much in Minnesota#
Because of what happens when it goes wrong.
A house held as tenants in common, where one owner dies and nobody opens a probate within three years, is the origin of most tangled title in this state. The survivor lives in the house, holds no clear title to the deceased's share, and cannot sell, refinance or insure it properly.
That situation is created at the moment the deed is drafted, and it becomes apparent decades later.
Entities as grantees#
An LLC, a trust or a corporation can take title, and there are good reasons to do it — liability separation for investment property, probate avoidance through a trust.
Two cautions.
Where the property carries a mortgage, transferring to an entity may trigger the due-on-sale clause. The transfer into a revocable living trust where the borrower remains a beneficiary is generally protected by federal exemption; transfer to an LLC generally is not.
And the entity has to exist and be in good standing at the moment of the conveyance. A deed to an LLC that was never actually formed conveys to nothing.
Errors#
A misspelled grantee name should be corrected promptly, by corrective deed or scrivener's affidavit.
The cost of fixing it now is small. The cost of fixing it after further documents have been recorded against the wrong name — a mortgage, a lien, a subsequent conveyance — grows with every one of them.
Adding someone to title#
A frequent family request and a frequently costly one.
Adding a child to a deed as a joint tenant transfers a present interest to them immediately. That has three consequences people rarely intend.
The child's creditors can reach the interest. A judgment against them, a divorce, a bankruptcy — all can now touch the house.
The transfer may trigger the due-on-sale clause on any mortgage.
And it forfeits the step-up in basis the child would have received by inheriting, which can create a substantial capital gains liability on a later sale.
Where the intention is to pass the house on death, a transfer on death deed achieves it without transferring anything during life — and is generally the right instrument for what the family actually wants.