Alienate

To voluntarily convey or transfer title to real property by gift, disposition by will or the laws of Descent and Distribution, or by sale.

For example, a seller may alienate property by transferring to a buyer a parcel of the seller's land containing a house, in exchange for cash. The seller is said to have alienated her rights in that parcel, such as the right to modify or even demolish the house on the parcel of land, to the buyer. Those rights now belong to the buyer.

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ALIENATE, aliene, alien. This is a generic term applicable to the various methods of transferring property from one person to another. Lord Coke, says, (1 Inst. 118 b,) alien cometh of the verb alienate, that is, alienum facere vel ex nostro dominio in alienum trawferre sive rem aliquam in dominium alterius transferre. These methods vary, according to the nature of the property to be conveyed and the particular objects the conveyance is designed to accomplish. It has been held, that under a prohibition to alienate, long leases are comprehended. 2 Dow's Rep. 210.