Easements (Ch. 9)

Question 1

easement

Answer 1

a nonpossessory right to use the land of another person.

Question 2

dominant/servient tenement

Answer 2

easement terms; the land benefited by the easment is the dominant tenement, and the land burdened by the easement is the servient tenement.

Question 3

appurtenant easement

Answer 3

an easement which benefits the holder in her use of a specific parcel of land.

Question 4

easement in gross

Answer 4

not connected to the holder’s use of any particular land, rather it is personal to the holder.

Question 5

affirmative easement

Answer 5

allows the holder to perform an act on the servient land.

Question 6

negative easement

Answer 6

allows the holder to prevent the servient owner from performing an act on the servient land.

Question 7

express easement

Answer 7

an easement which is voluntarily created by the agreement of both parties, usually in a deed (grant), or can also be by reservation, when the dominant owner grants the servient land to the servient owner, but reserves an easement over that property.

Question 8

Can an express easement by reservation be reserved for a third party?

Answer 8

Traditionally, no, but modern decisions tend to allow it.

Question 9

Millbrook Hunt v. Smith (1998)

Answer 9

Smith was against fox-hunting, so he tried to get rid of the 75-year easement the Hunt had to use the land for fox hunting. Court found that b/c the Hunt clearly reserved an absolute right to fox-hunt on the land (possessory interest), it was an easement and not a license.

Question 10

Difference between easement and revocable license?

Answer 10

An easement implies an interest in land which is possessory, while a license is simply a personal privilege to temproarily use a piece of land.

Question 11

Profit

Answer 11

A right to enter the land of another to remove minerals, timber, game, or other natural resources (Treated the same as easements legally).

Question 12

Three elements of an implied easement by prior existing use

Answer 12

(1) severance of title to land held in common ownership, (2) an existing, apparent, and continuous use of one parcel for the benefit of another at the time of severance, and (3) reasonable necessity for that use.

Question 13

Van Sandt v. Royster (1938)

Answer 13

The Court found an implied easement by prior existing use for a neighbor to use the adjacent lot to run sewer pipes to the street.

Question 14

reasonable necessity (for purposes of an implied easement)

Answer 14

Easement must be beneficial or convenient for the use of the dominant tenement, but doesn’t have to be essential.

Question 15

Elements of an easement by necessity

Answer 15

severance of title to land held in common ownership, and strict necessity for the easement at the time of severance.

Question 16

Berge v. State of Vermont

Answer 16

Court granted Berge an easement by necessity across D’s land b/c his only other access to a road was across a pond, which was not a “reasonably consistent, practical” means of reaching his property, as he would not be able to use the pond when it was frozen.

Question 17

key distinction in an easement by necessity case

Answer 17

the distinction between mere inconvenience and actual necessity

Question 18

Two approaches to easements by necessity

Answer 18

strict necessity and reasonable necessity

Question 19

Who chooses the location for an easement by necessity?

Answer 19

Generally, the owner of the servient land is titled to select the route, as long as it is reasonable.

Question 20

prescriptive easement

Answer 20

an easement gained by continuous, open, and notorious use of another’s land (similar to adverse posession).

Question 21

elements of a prescriptive easement

Answer 21

open and notorious, adverse and hostile, and continuous for the statutory period.

Question 22

public trust doctrine

Answer 22

provides that navigable waters and certain related lands belong to the government as a trustee for the benefit of the public. When the goverment sells such land, it reserves the right for the public to use the land for fishing, swimming, navigation, etc.

Question 23

Kienzle v. Myers (2006)

Answer 23

The court established an easement by estoppel for the use of a neighbor’s land to run sewer pipes underneath because the person relied on the easement to her detriment, so the neighbor is estopped from denying the existence of the easement.

Question 24

elements of an easement by estoppel

Answer 24

(1) a landowner allows another to use his land (creating a license), (2) the licensee relies in good faith on the license (by making improvements or incurring significant costs), and (3) the licensor knows or reasoanbly should expect such reliance will occur.

Question 25

difference between an easement by estoppel and an irrevocable license

Answer 25

there is no difference

Question 26

Marcus Cable Associates v. Krohn (2002)

Answer 26

Court would not allow P to use an existing easement for the purposes of transmitting cable lines because that went beyond the original intention of the easement, which was simply to transmit electricity lines.

Question 27

general rule of evolution of easements

Answer 27

the manner, frequency, and intensity of an easement’s use may change over time to accommodate technological development, as long as it doesn’t exceed the scope of the easement’s intentions.

Question 28

can the location of an easement be changed?

Answer 28

Yes, only if both the servient and dominant owners agree. But the Restatement provides that the servient owner may relocate an easement on his own as long as it doesn’t significantly lessen the utility of the easement or increase the burden on the easement-holder.

Question 29

Preseault v. U.S. (1996)

Answer 29

Court held that an easement for railroad use over P’s land was abandoned b/c there was no intent to use the land for railroad use in the future, and using the land for recreational trails was beyond the scope of the easement.

Question 30

abandonment of an easement

Answer 30

to establish abandonment, there must be nonuse, and acts by the owner of the dominant tenement conclusively manifesting either a present intent to relinquish the easement or a purpose inconsistent with its future existence.

Question 31

methods of terminating an easement

Answer 31

abandonment, condemnation, estoppel (servient owner relies to his detriment on promise not to use the easement), merger (one person obtains title to both the easement and the servient land), misuse, and release (in writing according to SoF).

Question 32

If an easement is terminated by condemnation of the land…

Answer 32

the easement holder is entitled to just compensation.

Question 33

conservation easement

Answer 33

restricts the development and use of the servient land in order to preserve open space, farm land, historical sites, etc.