Also known as: express reservations · expressly reserve · expressly reserved · expressly reserving · express reservation of rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An interest in land created when a grantor conveys title to a tract but retains the right to continue using the tract for a specified purpose after the conveyance. The grantor thereby passes title to the land while keeping an easement interest for the grantor alone. Under the majority view an attempt to reserve the easement for anyone other than the grantor is void.
O owns Whiteacre and Blackacre. O conveys Blackacre to A by deed that expressly reserves an easement for a sewer line across Blackacre for the benefit of Whiteacre. Because the reservation appears in the deed itself, O retains the sewer easement after title passes.
O owns two adjoining parcels. O conveys the rear parcel to A by deed that expressly reserves a right of way across the rear parcel for access to the front parcel. The recorded reservation binds A and permits O to continue using the way after the conveyance.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
O owns Whiteacre and Blackacre. O conveys Blackacre to A by deed that expressly reserves an easement for utilities across Blackacre. The reservation keeps the easement for O alone after title passes.
The United States granted a railroad a right-of-way across federal land and later issued a patent to the Brandt Trust for the underlying fee. The government's earlier conveyance expressly reserved the right-of-way, so the trust takes title subject to the easement and cannot block the railroad's use.
O owns two lots. O conveys the servient lot to A by deed that expressly reserves an access easement across the servient lot for the benefit of the dominant lot retained by O. The reservation creates a valid easement for O alone.
O owns Whiteacre and Blackacre. O conveys Blackacre to A by deed that expressly reserves an easement for a sewer line across Blackacre. The reservation is effective only for O and does not create rights in any third party.
An easement by express reservation arises when the grantor conveys the servient land but keeps the right to use it for a stated purpose. An easement by grant occurs when the grantor conveys the easement right itself to another person. Both must be in a writing signed by the grantor to satisfy the Statute of Frauds unless the duration is short.
No. Under the majority view the easement by reservation may be created only for the grantor. An attempt to reserve the easement for anyone else is void.
The attempted reservation for the stranger is ineffective. The grantee takes the land free of that purported easement, although the grantor may still hold other interests that were properly reserved for the grantor alone.
Yes. The reservation must be stated in the deed or other instrument that conveys the land. Courts will not imply the reservation from surrounding circumstances when the deed is silent.
…expectations as to amount to a “taking.” There the claimant had sold the surface rights to particular parcels of property, but expressly reserved the right to remove the coal thereunder. A Pennsylvania statute, enacted after the transactions, forbade any mining of coal that caused the subsidence of any house, unless the house was the…