Easement rights allow someone to use another’s land for a specific purpose. Types include explicit, implicit, permissive, and prescriptive easements, as well as gross, appurtenant, private, public, and conservation easements. Easements can be created through written documents, division of property, or adverse possession. Conservation easements limit land use and can result in tax breaks.
An easement right gives a person the license to use another person’s land for a specific purpose. Easements are commonly used for installing electric, utility, gas, and telephone lines, as well as inserting water and sewer pipes. Some of the most common types of easement rights are explicit and implicit. Other types of easements include those created with authorization or statute of limitations, as well as gross, ancillary, private, public, and conservation easements.
An express easement right is typically created by a written document, such as a deed, and expressly gives one person the right to use another’s land. An express reservation easement is formed when a landowner sells a property but reserves the right to use the land in some way. Implied easement rights, on the other hand, are created when a landowner divides the property into two parcels and then sells them to separate owners. If an easement, such as an access road, is necessary for one of the owners to reasonably enjoy his property, an implied easement can be created. This can sometimes be referred to as an easement of necessity.
Permissive easements are created when a person is granted permission to use another person’s land. These easements are often called licenses and the owner usually reserves the right to take away easement rights at any time. A prescriptive easement right is created without the owner’s permission under the doctrine of adverse possession. In order to secure prescriptive easement rights, a person usually needs to use another’s land for a certain amount of time, which is stipulated by law. Also, use generally must be open, continuous, and exclusive.
Property gross easements are given to a particular person or entity and are not transferred to subsequent owners. For example, if a man is given a large easement to use a path in his neighbor’s yard and the man later sells his house, the new owner of the house would not have the right to use the path. In contrast, appurtenant easement rights run with the land and can be transferred to subsequent owners through a deed or will. If the man in the example above had an appurtenant easement to use his neighbor’s path, for example, that right could transfer if the man sells his house.
Private easements rights belong to individuals or corporations while public easements are generally given for public use. Conservation easements are designed to preserve land for the use of future generations and typically limit how a piece of property can be used or developed by an owner. With a conservation easement, the owner voluntarily donates or sells certain easement rights, such as the right to develop land, to a public agency or private entity. Landowners can sometimes make tax breaks for creating conservation easements.
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