Easement Appurtenant

During the homebuying process, you should always:

1. Request a Title Search: This will reveal any recorded easements in the property’s history.

2. Review the Survey: A professional land survey will physically map out where any easements are located on the lot.

3. Check the Deed: Look for language like “subject to” or “together with” which often precedes easement descriptions.

It depends on which side you are on. For the dominant estate, an easement (like road access) often increases value because it makes the land usable. For the servient estate, it may slightly decrease value because it limits how you can use that portion of your yard. However, most common easements (like shared driveways) are already factored into local market prices.

Unlike a “license” (which is just a temporary permission), an easement is a permanent property interest and cannot be revoked at will by the servient owner. However, it can be terminated under specific legal conditions, such as:

• Merger: If one person buys both properties, the easement is extinguished because you cannot have an easement against yourself.

• Abandonment: The dominant owner clearly demonstrates they never intend to use the easement again (simply not using it for a while is usually not enough).

• Release: Both parties sign a written agreement to end the easement.

Generally, the responsibility for maintenance falls on the dominant estate (the one using the easement). If a neighbor uses your driveway via an easement, they are typically responsible for repairing potholes or shoveling snow in that specific area, unless the written easement agreement states otherwise.

No. The owner of the servient estate cannot legally obstruct the easement (e.g., by building a fence or parking a car in the way) if it interferes with the dominant estate’s intended use. Doing so could result in a lawsuit for “interference with an easement,” and a court could order the obstruction removed.

The distinction lies in who or what benefits:

• Appurtenant: Benefits a specific piece of land. If the neighbor moves, the next neighbor still gets the benefit.

• In Gross: Benefits a specific person or entity. A common example is a utility company’s right to run power lines across your yard. If the utility company goes out of business or the person moves, the easement doesn’t necessarily pass to a neighbor.

There are four primary ways these easements come into existence:

• Express Grant: The most common method, where a written deed or contract is signed and recorded in public records.

• By Necessity: Created by a court when a property is landlocked and has no other way to access a public road.

• Implied Easement: Arises from the prior use of the land when a larger parcel is subdivided into smaller lots.

• Prescriptive Easement: Occurs when someone uses another person’s land openly, notoriously, and without permission for a long period (often 10–20 years).

Yes. Because it “runs with the land,” the easement automatically transfers to the next owner of both properties. If you buy a dominant estate, you automatically inherit the right to use the neighbor’s land. If you buy a servient estate, you are legally obligated to honor the existing easement, even if you weren’t the one who originally agreed to it.

Every easement appurtenant involves two distinct roles:

• Dominant Estate: The property that benefits from the easement. For example, a landlocked home that needs to cross a neighbor’s yard to reach the street.

• Servient Estate: The property that bears the burden of the easement. This owner still owns the land but must allow the neighbor to use it as specified.

An easement appurtenant is a legal right that allows the owner of one parcel of land (the dominant estate) to use a portion of an adjacent or nearby parcel (the servient estate) for a specific, limited purpose. The key characteristic of this easement is that it is “appurtenant,” meaning it is legally attached to the land itself rather than to a specific individual.