surrender

To give back; yield; render up; restore; and in law, the giving up of an estate to the person who has it in reversion or remainder, so as to merge it in the larger estate. A yielding up of an estate for life or years to him who has an immediate estate in reversion or remainder, wherein the estate for life or years may drown by mutual agreement between them. To relinquish, to deliver into lawful custody, or to give up completely in favor of another. First Nat. Bank of Martinsville v. Cobler, 215 Va. 852, 213 S.E.2d 800, 803, 96 A.L.R.3d 1137.

In commercial law, a means whereby a holder discharges a party's liability on an instrument by delivering possession of the instrument with the intention to release the person from liability. The term also refers to the act of a holder of a negotiable document in presenting the document to the bailee upon taking possession of the goods.

In old English law, yielding up a tenancy in a copyhold estate to the lord of the manor for a specified purpose.

In landlord-tenant law, surrender exists when the tenant voluntarily gives up possession of the premises prior to the full term of the lease and the landlord accepts possession with intent that the lease be terminated. It differs from "abandonment," as applied to leased premises, inasmuch as the latter is simply an act on the part of the lessee alone; but to show a surrender, a mutual agreement between lessor and lessee that the lease is terminated must be clearly proved.

See surrender by operation of law

- surrender by bail