284
Opinion of the Court
right to "dispose" of an item is a property right). It is true, as respondent notes, that he lacked the right to unilaterally alienate the property, a right that is often in the bundle of property rights. See also post, at 296-297 (Thomas, J., dissenting). There is no reason to believe, however, that this one stick—the right of unilateral alienation—is essential to the category of "property."
This Court has already stated that federal tax liens may attach to property that cannot be unilaterally alienated. In United States v. Rodgers, 461 U. S. 677 (1983), we considered the Federal Government's power to foreclose homestead property attached by a federal tax lien. Texas law provided that " 'the owner or claimant of the property claimed as homestead [may not], if married, sell or abandon the homestead without the consent of the other spouse.' " Id., at 684- 685 (quoting Tex. Const., Art. 16, § 50). We nonetheless stated that "[i]n the homestead context . . . , there is no doubt . . . that not only do both spouses (rather than neither) have an independent interest in the homestead property, but that a federal tax lien can at least attach to each of those interests." 461 U. S., at 703, n. 31; cf. Drye, supra, at 60, n. 7 (noting that "an interest in a spendthrift trust has been held to constitute ' "property" for purposes of § 6321' even though the beneficiary may not transfer that interest to third parties").
Excluding property from a federal tax lien simply because the taxpayer does not have the power to unilaterally alienate it would, moreover, exempt a rather large amount of what is commonly thought of as property. It would exempt not only the type of property discussed in Rodgers, but also some community property. Community property States often provide that real community property cannot be alienated without the consent of both spouses. See, e. g., Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 25-214(C) (2000); Cal. Fam. Code Ann. § 1102 (West 1994); Idaho Code § 32-912 (1996); La. Civ. Code Ann., Art. 2347 (West Supp. 2002); Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 123.230(3)
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