A strawperson or straw man is a figure not intended to have a genuine beneficial interest in a property, to whom such property is nevertheless conveyed in order to facilitate a more complicated transaction at law.
Under common law, property owners cannot transfer their own property to themselves; this rule creates a barrier to certain forms of conveyances, most notably to creating a joint tenancy with another party. The grantor therefore conveys the property to a strawperson (often a lawyer or the lawyer's secretary), who in turn creates a second deed conveying property to the original grantor and their desired joint tenant(s). This is a legal means of complying with the Four Unities Rule.
A strawperson at times is someone engaging in some other kind of transaction where the principal remains hidden or to do something else which is not allowed.
A straw person is also "a person of no means," or one who deliberately accepts a liability or other monetary responsibility without the resources to fulfill it, usually to shield another party.