stranger

One who was not a party to a transaction. One not in interest. As a depositary of an escrow:–one not a party to the instrument; one so free from any personal or legal identity with the parties to the instrument as to leave him free to discharge his duty as a depositary to both parties without involving a breach of duty to either. 28 Am J2d Escr § 12. As used in a statute making absolutely void the attornment of a tenant to a "stranger," the word has been held to signify a person between whom and the landlord there is no privity, and whose title or right of possession is not derived from the landlord but is hostile to his title. See O'Donnell v McIntyre, 118 NY 156, 164, 23 NE 455. Within the meaning of an inheritance tax statute, the term has been construed as intended to exhaust the whole category of persons who might be called to the inheritance, whether by will or ab intestato; so construed, the term applies to all who have not the status of legitimate ascendants, descendants, or collateral relations, and thus includes a widow. Baker's Succession, 129 La 74, 55 So 714.