Also known as: lower estates · servient estate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The land burdened by an easement or other servitude. The owner of this estate must allow the beneficiary to exercise the rights conferred by the servitude and may not use the land in ways that unreasonably interfere with those rights.
Lattice Systems holds an easement across land owned by Lorenzo Lugo for a high-pressure gas pipeline. After heavy rains damage the pipeline cover on Lugo's property, Lattice Systems must repair the cover to prevent interference with Lugo's farming. Lugo has no obligation to perform the repairs himself.
Lucia Lopez owns land subject to an easement allowing Lotus Pharmaceuticals to run a utility line along the northern edge. Lopez decides to plant a row of trees in that same strip for shade. The planting does not block access to the line, so Lopez may proceed with the landscaping.
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Lola Langley owns the dominant parcel benefited by an access easement across Leonard Lowe's land. Langley begins using the easement to reach a newly acquired adjacent parcel she also owns. Lowe obtains an injunction because the expanded use exceeds the easement's original scope.
Lena Lawson owns the servient parcel subject to a recorded restriction limiting the land to residential purposes. She erects a building for selling ice cream and dairy products. The neighboring dominant owners obtain an injunction enforcing the restriction against the commercial activity.
The owner of the lower estate generally has no duty to repair or maintain the servient land or the improvements used by the easement beneficiary. Joint use of the same improvements creates a duty to share reasonable repair costs between the parties.
The owner of the lower estate may use the land in any manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the beneficiary's enjoyment of the servitude. Uses that substantially impair the granted rights are prohibited.
A properly created and recorded easement runs with the lower estate and binds subsequent owners who take with notice. Later owners cannot unilaterally obstruct or revoke the rights granted by the easement.
The language of the grant fixes the permissible scope of use. Increases in intensity that remain within the stated purpose are normally allowed unless they unreasonably burden the lower estate beyond what the grant contemplates.
…Reed, J.; Petrich, C.J., and Petrie, J., concur Opinion of Reed, J. Defendants, Fred and Hattie Voss, owners of the servient estate, appeal from a judgment that denied their counterclaim for an injunction against Will and Jean Brown, plaintiffs, owners of the dominant estate. Defendants requested the injunction to…