Also known as: exclusive easement in gross · exclusive easement · easement in gross
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An interest in land that permits its holder the sole use of a servient parcel for a specified purpose without benefiting any dominant estate. The holder possesses exclusive authority to permit additional users and may prevent the servient owner from authorizing others.
Ethan Evans held an exclusive easement in gross over a strip of land owned by Eric Espinoza to run commercial pipelines. Ethan later purchased a fee interest in half of that strip for his own storage facility. The purchase allowed Ethan to make pipeline uses on the acquired portion by virtue of his new ownership, extinguishing the easement to that extent while leaving the remainder intact.
Emerald Enterprises held an exclusive easement in gross across land owned by Elena Estrada to operate a private rail spur for its shipping business. Emerald sold its entire shipping operation to Edgewater Capital, expressly including the easement. The transfer carried the exclusive rights because the easement served a commercial purpose and the grant contained no restriction on alienability.
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An exclusive easement in gross gives the holder the sole right to use the servient land and the sole power to authorize others to use it. The servient owner cannot permit additional users. Nonexclusive easements lack this sole authority and may be shared.
Yes when the grant terms and commercial context permit. The holder may allow allied commercial users provided the total burden stays within the easement's capacity and does not overburden the servient estate.
Yes. When the easement serves a business purpose such as shipping or utilities and the creating instrument imposes no restriction, the holder may assign it along with the associated business operation.
It extinguishes the easement to the extent the new fee ownership allows the holder to make the same uses the easement previously authorized.
…of land: "[I]t seems clear that what the restrictive covenants did create for the benefit of the plaintiff trustee is an easement in gross...." Id., at 341, 321 A.2d 469. We also take this opportunity to clarify, contrary to the plaintiff's assertion, that a person need not simultaneously own both the benefited and the…