Easement Appurtenant

An Easement Appurtenant runs with the land. When the land is transferred, the easement transfers with it. An easement is an encumbrance

Smith gives Jones a permanent deeded easement to cross his land to get to his own land. If Smith sells his land, the easement runs with the land and Jones can continue to cross the land even though there is a new owner. If Jones sells the land, the new owner may cross Smith's land.

An easement appurtenant requires two parcels of land

•The land which benefits from an easement appurtenant is called the dominant estate or dominant tenement

•The land over which the easement appurtenant runs is called the servient estate or servient tenement

One parcel gives up nothing but receives the benefit of an easement on another parcel. The parcel that gives up nothing is the dominant estate.

The second parcel gives up the easement. The parcel that provides the easement is the servient estate.

An easement appurtenant may be terminated in several ways but the surest ways are:

•The owner of the dominant estate signs a quitclaim deed

•Merging the two parcels into one. (It takes two pieces of land before an easement appurtenant is possible.)