WHAT IS THE SALE OF ASSETS? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2024

The alienation of assets is the right to act to transfer assets from one estate to another. The alienation, for these purposes, may be due to a legal fact or a legal act.

A legal fact is that natural event over which man has no power, however, this creates changes and consequences in the law of property, such is the case of birth or death.

On the other hand, it is called a legal act to the action carried out deliberately with the purpose of transmitting or changing the rights of an asset, such as the creation of a sales contract.

The transmission of an asset can occur in different ways, among them are the purchase, sale, rent or even donation.

When we speak of the alienation of property, we are talking broadly about any modification that may occur in the right of ownership that a person has over an asset.

The origin of the sale of assets

To fully understand this term, we must first define it. Alienation is the word for the action of separating or losing.

For its part, the term "good" originates from Roman law, which thus called any element external to man that could be possessed, be it material (such as jewelry or a home) or immaterial (rights).

Thus, the alienation of property refers to the separation of possessions either through sale or donation, or to lose the property in the event of a seizure.

Property in Roman law

If we seek to understand the alienation of property, we have to move on to Roman law, since it is here that for the first time we speak of property and assets.

The sum of all the assets - that is, possessions - and the subtraction of the debts result in what the Romans called patrimony.

For the Romans it was important to clarify who could own what. There were goods outside of commerce, those that could not be appropriated or sold either because they belonged to the divine (religious temples) or because they belonged to nature (rivers and mountains).

On the other hand, commercial assets were those that could be owned or traded, such as a farm, a home, or an inheritance.

Different types of commercial goods

We have seen that goods are a vast category of tangible and intangible possessions, therefore they have different classifications:

Real or personal property

These are the goods that can be moved or transferred (furniture) and those that cannot (real estate). We can consider furniture a car, a table or a work of art; properties, on the other hand, are buildings, constructions or even a portion of land.

Selling a house

The fungible and non-fungible

In short, what can be replaced and what cannot. An expendable good is something that is produced serially, such as a car or an appliance.

It is non-fungible that which is irreplaceable, such as the work of a famous painter or a unique jewel in the world.

Consumables and non-consumables

A consumable is a good that runs out with the first use, it can be a food, a drink or a disposable object.

Non-consumable goods are those that can be re-used such as clothing, which despite suffering deterioration over time, can last for many years.

Divisible and indivisible

A divisible good is one that, when separated into parts, does not lose its value, such as money or the space of a land, the first can be paid and the second divided into lots; something that cannot be divided loses its value by being separated into parts, like a chair or a telephone.

Types of disposal

The alienation of assets is the legal act in which the property of one patrimony is transferred to another, this can be in exchange for an income (profit) or for free. There are then the disposals:

By onerous title

It refers to contracts or actions that will lead to mutual benefit between both parties, where one party may receive a car, for example, while the other party receives the monetary equivalent of the car, or even a car of equal or greater value. This is divided into:

-Buy and sell

It is the type of contract where an exchange is made that will be beneficial for both parties, where the seller gives something to the buyer in exchange for its price in money. This must always be bilateral and both parties must agree.

Monetary transaction

-Barter

Type of contract where both parties receive the right to one property in exchange for another, that is, an exchange or barter.

This activity must be highly controlled due to the possible disparity between one property and the other, making the exchange imperfect or unfair. This practice lost popularity with the invention of the coin.

By free title

It refers to the situation where a person, despite obtaining something, is not obliged to give something in return.

-Donation

This is a unilateral legal act, since it involves a donor transferring free ownership of one or more of its assets to a donee. Only assets already existing at the time of the act can be donated.

-Heritage

It is the legal act by which a person after dying transfers their assets, rights and even debts to one or more heirs. In the same way, this act is unilateral.

The sale of assets today

We have learned the classification of assets and the types of disposal, so now we know that the disposal of assets can range from the sale of a car to the inheritance of a house.

Despite being contemplated differently in the laws of each country, it is a general fact that the alienation is accompanied by certain obligations; when a person alienates an asset and therefore obtains an income, he must pay a tax as in any other commercial act.

The importance of knowing this term lies in your daily life. Every day, we make a purchase or sale - be it small or significant - and this cycle is one of the foundations of the commercial societies of our time.

References

1. Roman Law (2013) Property. Law on the Net. Recovered from Derechoromano.es
2. Legal Encyclopedia (sf) Alienation. Legal Encyclopedia. Recovered from Enciclopedia-juridica.biz14.com
3. The Guide (2008) Classification of goods. The Guide: Right. Recovered from Derecho.laguia.com
4. UNID (sf) Roman Law. Inter-American University for Development. Recovered from Moodle2.unid.edu.mx
5. Tribbius (2012) Onerous Title. Legal Terms. Recovered from Tribbius.com