Transfer of real estate
The transfer of real estate by will often involves the following parties, terms and elements:
- Devisor. The person (deceased) who is giving real property through the will is called a devisor. The operative element here is real estate. The devisor and testator are often the same person. It is simply that when real estate property is involved, that portion of the process is considered the devising and involves the devisor and devisee.
- Devisee. The person who is receiving real property through the will is the devisee. The devisee and beneficiary to a will may be the same person. The basic difference is whether the property being received is real property or personal property. In the portion of the will that deals with real property, the receiver is the devisee.
- Devise. The process of disposing real—as opposed to personal—property through a will is technically called the devise. The will may involve a devise and a bequest; the difference is that the devise handles the disposition of real property, while the bequest handles the disposition of personal (non-real) property.