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GlossaryTitleConveyance

Grantor

2 min read
Short answer
A grantor is the party conveying an interest in real property — the seller in an ordinary sale, but also the sheriff on a sheriff's deed, the personal representative on an estate sale, or the state on a tax-forfeited land sale. The grantor's name and capacity on the deed determine whether the conveyance is effective.

A grantor is the party conveying an interest in real property. The deed names them as the one giving something up.

In an ordinary sale that is the seller. In distressed property it very often is not.

Who the grantor is in a distressed transaction#

A sheriff, executing a sheriff's deed following a foreclosure by action, or issuing a sheriff's certificate after a sale by advertisement.

A personal representative, conveying estate property under authority granted by the probate court.

The State of Minnesota, conveying tax-forfeited land through the county.

A trustee, conveying property held in trust.

Each of those carries a capacity requirement. The grantor is not conveying their own property; they are conveying someone else's under authority, and the deed must show the authority as well as the name.

Capacity is where these fail#

A personal representative signing without letters, an officer signing for an entity without authority, a trustee whose powers do not extend to the conveyance — each produces a defect that may not surface until the next sale.

Title examiners look for it precisely because it is common. The remedy is frequently an affidavit or a corrective instrument, and occasionally a court proceeding.

Name variations#

Very common and usually minor.

Someone acquired property as one name and conveys it as another — a marriage, a divorce, a middle initial that appears on one document and not the other, a business that changed its form.

Each creates an apparent gap in the chain. The usual resolution is an affidavit of identity confirming the two names are the same person, which is routine and inexpensive when done at the closing where it arises rather than years later.

What a grantor can convey#

Only what they hold.

A quitclaim deed from someone with no interest conveys nothing, and does so without any warranty being breached — the form promises nothing about what is being transferred.

That is why the form of deed and the state of title are separate questions. A warranty deed from someone with defective title gives the grantee a claim against the grantor. A quitclaim deed from the same person gives them very little.

Grantor-grantee indexing#

The county's search index is organised by the names of the parties rather than by the property.

That means finding everything affecting a parcel means searching the names of everyone who has held it, in sequence. It is why a break in the chain matters so much: an interest conveyed by someone whose name does not appear where expected becomes very difficult to find.

Common questions

Is the grantor always the seller?
Not always. The grantor is whoever conveys, which in distressed property is frequently not an ordinary seller — a sheriff, a personal representative acting for an estate, a trustee, or the state conveying forfeited land.
What if the grantor's name is spelled differently from the prior deed?
It creates a gap in the chain that a title examiner will raise. Name variations from marriage, divorce, abbreviation or simple error are common and are usually resolved by an affidavit of identity rather than by anything more serious.
Can a grantor convey more than they own?
They can attempt to, and the deed conveys only what they actually held. A quitclaim deed from someone with no interest conveys nothing, which is why the form of deed and the state of title both matter rather than either alone.
Keep reading
Grantee
The party receiving an interest in real property under a deed, whose name and vesting language determine how the interest is held going forward.
Deed of conveyance
The written instrument that transfers an interest in real property from grantor to grantee, effective on delivery and recorded to bind third parties.
Legal description
The formal written identification of a parcel's boundaries used in deeds and recorded documents, distinct from its street address.