Also known as: personal easement in gross · easement in gross personal · personal easement · easement in gross
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A nonpossessory right to use land belonging to another that benefits the holder personally or for noncommercial purposes rather than any particular parcel of land. The right is not tied to ownership of a dominant estate and its alienability depends on the manner or terms of its creation.
Phoebe Park holds a personal easement in gross permitting her to cross a corner of Preston Pratt's rural parcel for private hiking access. Phoebe later buys the servient parcel outright from Preston. The easement ends because Phoebe can now make the same uses by virtue of owning the land itself.
Paula Pierce receives a personal easement in gross to fish a private pond on Parker Phillips's property for her own recreation. The creating instrument states the right is nontransferable. When Paula attempts to assign the privilege to a friend, the transfer fails because the terms of creation control alienability of this noncommercial interest.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A personal easement in gross benefits the holder personally without reference to any dominant parcel. An appurtenant easement instead benefits a particular tract of land and runs with that land when ownership changes.
The easement ends to the extent the new owner can make the authorized uses simply by owning the servient parcel. Partial acquisition that does not cover every authorized use leaves the remainder intact.
Alienability turns on the manner or terms of creation rather than a general rule allowing transfer like commercial easements in gross. An instrument that expressly limits transfer or ties the right to the original holder prevents assignment.
A general release does not automatically terminate the easement unless the language clearly shows intent to release that specific interest. Courts require precise identification of the easement to avoid unintended extinguishment.
…Telluray Ranch Corp. , 965 P.2d 1229, 1234 (Colo.1998)(quotation marks omitted). An easement can be in gross or appurtenant. An easement in gross does not belong to an individual by virtue of her ownership of land, but rather is a personal right to use another's property. Lewitz v. Porath Family Trust , 36 P.3d 120, 122 (Colo.App.…