Easements Flashcards
What are the five kinds of easements?
(1) Express easement
(2) Implied easement by prior existing use
(3) Easement by necessity
(4) Prescriptive easement
(5) Easement by estoppel (irrevocable license)
What do express easements require?
(1) Writing that satisfies the statute of frauds
What is an easement by neccesity?
(1) Where a parcel is severed
(2) generally, a right to ingress and egress
(3) Can be created
(4) if required to access one of the new parcels
(5) and this necessity for access was created by the original severance
What is an implied easement by prior existing use?
(1) Where a parcel is severed
(2) and one part of the land was being used
(i) continuously
(ii) apparently
(iii) for the benefit of another part of the land split by the severance
(3) An implied easement by prior existing use can be created where reasonably neccesary
What is a prescriptive easement?
(1) Where a claimant uses the owners land in a
(2) Open
(3) Notorioius
(4) Adverse
(5) Hostile
(6) Manner, continuously for a statute of limitations period
What easements are sneaky on exams?
(1) Prescriptive easements
What is an easement by estoppel?
(1) An irrevocable license
What is the majority rule for an Easement by necessity?
(1) There must be a ‘reasonable necessity’ at time of severance
What is the traditional view for an easement by necessity?
(1) There must be a ‘Strict necessity’ at time of severance
What are the three necessity standards?
(1) Strict necessity
(2) Reasonable Necessity
(3) Reasonably Practical ‘Berge’ standard
What is strict neccesity
(1) It is impossible to access your parcel without the easement
(2) Minority standard
What is reasonable necessity
(1) Easement would be beneficial or practical
(2) Majority Standard
What is the reasonably practical ‘Berge’ standard?
(1) An easement is required when practical
(2) Where QUOTE “Todays standard’s compel the conclusion” as to what is practical
What is the difference between a license and an easement?
(1) Easements “Run with the land”
(2) Licenses are for people
What is required to create an irrevocable license by estoppel?
Where
(1) Owner grants a liscense for another to use their land
(2) Reasonable to forsee that the other would substantially change position in reliance
(3) The other actually does substantially change positon in reasonable reliance
(4) Injustice can only be avoided by recognizing the easement
What ways may an easement be terminated?
(1) Express
(2) Release
(3) Abandonment
(4) Merger
(5) Estoppel
(6) Misuse
(7) Condemnation
(8) Prescription
What is express termination of an easement?
(1) Natural ending of an easement by its terms
What is release of an easement?
(1) The easement holder can release the easement by writing that complies with the statute of frauds
What is abandoning an easement?
Easement holder
(1) Ceases using the easement
(2) With intent or acts inconsistent with it’s further use
What effect does merging easement and servient land have on the easements?
(1) Where one person obtains title to both the easement
and
(2) The servient land
(3) The easement terminates under the doctrine of merger
When will an easement be ended by estoppel?
(1) Where the servient owner substantially changes his position
(2) In reasonable reliance on the
(3) Easement holder’s statement that the easement will not be used in the future
What is misuse of an easement?
(1) In some jurisdictions
(2) If a holder seriously misuses an easement
(3) the easement may be ended through forfeiture
What effect does condemnation have on easements?
(1) Condemnation of servient land terminates easements
(2) Though the easement holder is entitled to just compensation
How may an easement be terminated by prescription?
(1) Where a servient owner blocks use of the easement
(2) In an open
(3) Notorious
(4) Adverse
(5) Hostile
(6) Continuous
(7) Manner for the perspective period, the easement ends.
