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Learning More About Appurtenant Easements: Your Questions Answered

Once you define an appurtenant easement, you, no doubt, will have other questions about this type of right-of-way. Easements, themselves, are defined as real estate rights that involve the use of another person’s land. The property right gives the user a nonpossessory interest in another party’s real estate.

An appurtenant easement is a property right that allows the holder to use an adjoining piece of real estate. This real property transfers with the land. A dominant tenement is the parcel of land that derives benefit from the easement while a servient tenement is the land parcel that provides the easement. Given these distinctions will help you delve further into the subject. The following questions will assist you in getting a better understanding of an appurtenant easement.

What Is One Example Of An Appurtenant Easement?

Again, an appurtenant easement is created between to legal parties. One of the parties—the servient tenement—is the parcel of land that provides the easement while the dominant tenement is the parcel of land that benefits from this type of easement. An example of an appurtenant easement is the public or private access to a street across a property that is landlocked.

What Is Common To All Appurtenant Easements?

The aforementioned dominant tenement and the servient tenement are both common features of all appurtenant easements. The land owned by the easement holder is the dominant tenement while the servient tenement represents the property in which the easement is held.

What Is The Major Feature Of An Appurtenant Easement?

The major feature of this type of easement is the fact that it is held by the owner in his or her role as dominant tenement. If the dominant tenement is transferred or sold, the easement is instantly transferred with the land. For example, it you hold an appurtenant easement that permits you to cross over land on a specific path and sell it, the new holder can use the easement in the same manner.

What Does It Mean When An Appurtenant Easement Runs With The Land?

When you work with a California easement attorney in San Diego, you will become well versed in easement language. Generally, an easement that runs with the land means that the right-of-way belongs with or remains with the land. When another party buys the real estate, he or she will own the easement. This easement contrasts with an easement in gross, which is a personal easement between parties. Therefore, an easement in gross does not run with the land and is not transferred in personal property transactions.

What Is The Difference Between An Implied And Express Easement?

Typically, an express easement is a clearly written contract that shows that a neighbor possesses an easement behind your property. An express easement may be recorded as a portion of the real estate deed. As a result, express easements are often considered as appurtenant easements as they are attached to the land, and belong to a new owner when a property is transferred.

An implied easement, on the other hand, is one where another party or neighbor has used a part of the land. Therefore, the easement is not recorded nor transfers with the sale of the real estate. In this case, the easement represents an easement in gross. In order to better understand the difference between implied and express easements, you need to talk to a California easement lawyer located in San Diego.

When Is A Lease Used And When Is An Appurtenant Easement Used?

An appurtenant easement is used for egress or ingress. Use a lease for building on a parcel. To clarify your position, talk to an attorney that handles easements in San Diego.

What Are The Various Types Of Appurtenant Easements?

Appurtenant easements can be represented by some of the following easements: express easements, easements by implication, and easements by necessity.

An express easement is the most common type of appurtenant easement, and is created by court order or by express grant via a separate easement agreement deed

An easement by implication is an implied grant that is established as the result of continued prior use of a parcel of land. While an easement by implication normally is associated with access drives or roads, it can also refer to utilities that were in place before a piece of land was divided into two or more parcels of real estate.

An easement by necessity is proven when the severance of the ownership of land, without the easement, would lead to a landlocked parcel. Anyone seeking to show the existence of an easement by necessity should contact a San Diego easement attorney to prove the following:

  • Both the dominant and servient estates were owned in the past by the same individual or individuals, or a unity of title existed;
  • A severance of the unity occurred by conveyance; and
  • Necessity arose from the severance.

Needless to say, if you want to clarify your position with respect to land use, you need to speak to an easement lawyer located in San Diego. The above questions and answers can be used to better understand your position in this respect.

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