There are two ways to transfer real estate: a deed or inheritance (simply dying).
Most families maintaining ownership of real estate over generations do so through inheritance. However, it is also common for some owners in the family tree to have received their ownership interest by deed. In that scenario, they are referred to as grantees- a person receiving an interest in real estate by a deed.
Even if a tree member received their ownership interest by deed rather than inheritance, the HeirShares Tree Builder needs to know whether they are still an owner. Therefore, in the series of questions about any deed related to the family property, the user will be asked to inform of who the grantees are AND whether they are living or deceased.
Example.
This image of a deed illustrates in pink where that information would be found in the deed. In this example, there are three grantees as highlighted by the numbers: Tim, Rita, and Bob. If either of them is deceased, that should be indicated in the HeirShares Tree Builder, along with other information that will be sought.
Check out this article to learn what a grantee is and this article that shares how to find grantees in a deed.