Also known as: appurtenant easements · easement appurtenant · easements appurtenant
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A nonpossessory right to use land of another that attaches to and benefits a particular dominant estate. The right passes automatically with transfers of possession of the dominant estate and cannot be used to benefit any other parcel.
Aisha Ahmed acquired a prescriptive right to cross a path on Andre Antoine's land to reach her own parcel. When Aisha later granted a life estate in her parcel to her daughter, the daughter continued using the path for the remainder of the prescriptive period. The right accrued to the benefit of both Aisha and her daughter as successive possessors of the dominant estate.
Apollo Energy held an appurtenant easement across Alliance Holdings' land to reach its own forty-acre tract. Apollo later purchased an adjoining parcel and attempted to route construction traffic from the new parcel over the easement. Alliance blocked the expanded use because the easement could serve only the original dominant estate.
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Audrey Ashton granted an access easement to Amber Alonzo over her driveway to serve Amber's single-family home. Amber later subdivided the home site into four lots and built townhouses. Audrey could not enjoin the increased traffic because the subdivision constituted normal development of the dominant parcel contemplated at the time of the grant.
Aaron Adams owned a parcel benefited by an access easement across Anthony Arnold's property. Aaron purchased an adjacent lot without an easement and began driving across the servient land to reach the new lot. Anthony obtained an injunction because the easement could not be used to benefit land outside the original dominant estate.
Yes. The easement is incidental to possession of the dominant tenement, so every succeeding possessor receives its benefit regardless of whether the transfer occurs by conveyance, operation of law, or even wrongful possession.
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No. An appurtenant easement may not be used for the benefit of property other than the dominant estate unless the creating instrument expressly provides otherwise.
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No. Each subdivided parcel succeeds to the same privileges of use that the original owner possessed, provided the increased use does not unreasonably burden the servient estate beyond what normal development contemplates.
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Courts presume the parties contemplated normal development of the dominant tenement. An increase in use is permitted if it reflects foreseeable changes and does not impose an unreasonable additional burden on the servient land.
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…Jean Brown, plaintiffs, owners of the dominant estate. Defendants requested the injunction to prevent plaintiffs from using an easement appurtenant to gain access to a nondominant estate adjacent to the dominant estate. We reverse and remand for entry of an injunction. On April 1, 1977, plaintiffs purchased land (parcel B) from the…