Straw man is a third party that holds property in intermission for the sole purpose of transferring it to another. In property law, a straw man would be the person whom a grantor transfers land to for some reason; (sometimes known as a "front") for the sole purpose of concealing the true owner. Any transaction where there is a party representing another in a purchase where the property will be transferred is a straw man transaction. In the past, to create a proper joint tenancy where one joint tenant already owned interest, it was first necessary to convey the property to a straw man, then to convey the interest of the property to the ultimate grantees as joint tenants. A straw man transaction was necessary because the grantees had to acquire their interests at the same time to form a unity of time and have the unity of title (same method of conveyance); these two elements form joint tenancy.
Straw man is also a logical fallacy in an argument, used with the intention of distracting from the original topic.
[Last updated in March of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]