PENNSYLVANIA REAL ESTATE REVIEW TIPS
ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔probate - ✔✔A legal process by which a court determines who will inherit a
decedent's property and what the estate's assets are.
✔✔heir - ✔✔One who might inherit or succeed to an interest in land under the state law
of descent when the owner dies without leaving a valid will.
✔✔devise - ✔✔A gift of real property by will. The donor is the devisor, and the recipient
is the devisee.
✔✔testator - ✔✔A person who has made a valid will. A woman often is referred to as a
testatrix, although testator can be used for either gender.
✔✔will - ✔✔A written document, properly witnessed, providing for the transfer of title to
property owned by the deceased, called the testator.
✔✔intestate - ✔✔The condition of a property owner who dies without leaving a valid will.
Title to the property will pass to the decedent's heirs as provided in the state law of
descent.
✔✔testate - ✔✔Having made and left a valid will.
✔✔adverse possession - ✔✔The actual, visible, hostile, notorious, exclusive, and
continuous possession of another's land under a claim of title. Possession for a
statutory period may be a means of acquiring title.
✔✔transfer tax - ✔✔Tax stamps required to be affixed to a deed by state and/or local
law.
✔✔judicial deed - ✔✔A deed that is delivered pursuant to court order.
✔✔trustee's deed - ✔✔A deed executed by a trustee conveying land held in a trust.
, ✔✔deed in trust - ✔✔An instrument that grants a trustee full power to sell, mortgage,
and subdivide a parcel of real estate. The beneficiary controls the trustee's use of these
powers under the provisions of the trust agreement.
✔✔quitclaim deed - ✔✔A conveyance by which the grantor transfers whatever interest
he or she has in the real estate, without warranties or obligations.
✔✔bargain and sale deed - ✔✔A deed that carries with it no warranties against liens or
other encumbrances but that does imply that the grantor has the right to convey title.
The grantor may add warranties to the deed at his or her discretion.
✔✔special warranty deed - ✔✔A deed in which the grantor warrants, or guarantees, the
title only against defects arising during the period of his or her tenure and ownership of
the property and not against defects existing before that time, generally using the
language, "by, through or under the grantor but not otherwise."
✔✔general warranty deed - ✔✔A deed to the premises. Used in most real estate deed
transfers, a general warranty deed offers the greatest protection of any deed.
✔✔acknowledgment - ✔✔A formal declaration made before a duly authorized officer,
usually a notary public, by a person who has signed a document.
✔✔power of attorney - ✔✔A written instrument authorizing a person, the attorney-in-
fact, to act as agent for another person to the extent indicated in the instrument.
✔✔habendum clause - ✔✔That part of a deed beginning with the words "to have and to
hold," following the granting clause, and defining the extent of ownership the grantor is
conveying
✔✔granting clause - ✔✔Words in a deed of conveyance that state the grantor's
intention to convey the property at the present time. This clause is generally worded as
"convey and warrant," "grant," "grant, bargain, and sell," or the like.
✔✔grantee - ✔✔A person who receives a conveyance of real property from a grantor
✔✔grantor - ✔✔The person transferring title to or an interest in real property to a
grantee
✔✔deed - ✔✔A written instrument that, when executed and delivered, conveys title to
or an interest in real estate
ANSWERS AND QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔probate - ✔✔A legal process by which a court determines who will inherit a
decedent's property and what the estate's assets are.
✔✔heir - ✔✔One who might inherit or succeed to an interest in land under the state law
of descent when the owner dies without leaving a valid will.
✔✔devise - ✔✔A gift of real property by will. The donor is the devisor, and the recipient
is the devisee.
✔✔testator - ✔✔A person who has made a valid will. A woman often is referred to as a
testatrix, although testator can be used for either gender.
✔✔will - ✔✔A written document, properly witnessed, providing for the transfer of title to
property owned by the deceased, called the testator.
✔✔intestate - ✔✔The condition of a property owner who dies without leaving a valid will.
Title to the property will pass to the decedent's heirs as provided in the state law of
descent.
✔✔testate - ✔✔Having made and left a valid will.
✔✔adverse possession - ✔✔The actual, visible, hostile, notorious, exclusive, and
continuous possession of another's land under a claim of title. Possession for a
statutory period may be a means of acquiring title.
✔✔transfer tax - ✔✔Tax stamps required to be affixed to a deed by state and/or local
law.
✔✔judicial deed - ✔✔A deed that is delivered pursuant to court order.
✔✔trustee's deed - ✔✔A deed executed by a trustee conveying land held in a trust.
, ✔✔deed in trust - ✔✔An instrument that grants a trustee full power to sell, mortgage,
and subdivide a parcel of real estate. The beneficiary controls the trustee's use of these
powers under the provisions of the trust agreement.
✔✔quitclaim deed - ✔✔A conveyance by which the grantor transfers whatever interest
he or she has in the real estate, without warranties or obligations.
✔✔bargain and sale deed - ✔✔A deed that carries with it no warranties against liens or
other encumbrances but that does imply that the grantor has the right to convey title.
The grantor may add warranties to the deed at his or her discretion.
✔✔special warranty deed - ✔✔A deed in which the grantor warrants, or guarantees, the
title only against defects arising during the period of his or her tenure and ownership of
the property and not against defects existing before that time, generally using the
language, "by, through or under the grantor but not otherwise."
✔✔general warranty deed - ✔✔A deed to the premises. Used in most real estate deed
transfers, a general warranty deed offers the greatest protection of any deed.
✔✔acknowledgment - ✔✔A formal declaration made before a duly authorized officer,
usually a notary public, by a person who has signed a document.
✔✔power of attorney - ✔✔A written instrument authorizing a person, the attorney-in-
fact, to act as agent for another person to the extent indicated in the instrument.
✔✔habendum clause - ✔✔That part of a deed beginning with the words "to have and to
hold," following the granting clause, and defining the extent of ownership the grantor is
conveying
✔✔granting clause - ✔✔Words in a deed of conveyance that state the grantor's
intention to convey the property at the present time. This clause is generally worded as
"convey and warrant," "grant," "grant, bargain, and sell," or the like.
✔✔grantee - ✔✔A person who receives a conveyance of real property from a grantor
✔✔grantor - ✔✔The person transferring title to or an interest in real property to a
grantee
✔✔deed - ✔✔A written instrument that, when executed and delivered, conveys title to
or an interest in real estate
