Also known as: powers to alienate · power of alienation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A legal authority or capacity of a property owner to transfer or convey an interest in land or other property to another party. The power arises automatically upon satisfaction of a condition such as the birth of issue in a fee simple conditional estate and permits creation of any interest that a fee simple absolute owner could create.
Portia Price purchased coastal land in State B from a seller domiciled in State A under a contract selecting State A law. Years later a neighbor in State B claimed a prescriptive easement based on decades of use. The court weighed the purpose of each state's property rules on suspension of alienation power and the physical location of the land before selecting the governing law.
Patricia Patel hired an attorney to draft a will creating future interests that suspended the power to alienate the devised land beyond the permitted period. After the testator's death the devisees sued the attorney for malpractice when the interests proved invalid under the rule against perpetuities.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The power arises upon birth of the required issue. Once that condition is satisfied the holder may convey any interest that a fee simple absolute owner could create.
No. A clause that merely directs how the property may be used does not limit the owner's legal power to convey the property itself.
Courts consider the purpose of each interested state's property rules and the relation of each state to the land and the parties when determining the state of most significant relationship.
Yes. A reversion is a recognized estate in land that the holder may convey inter vivos by any valid deed in the same manner as a present fee simple.