Easements I

Question 1

What family of five non-possessory estates do servitudes refer to?

Answer 1

– The easement
– The license
– The profit
– The real covenant
– The equitable servitude

Question 2

What is an easement?

Answer 2

The easement is the grant of a non-possessory property interest in land, consisting of the right to use or control the land

Question 3

What is the difference between a dominant tenement and servient tenement?

Answer 3

• Dominant tenement: The parcel that derives the benefit as a consequence of the easement. (Also called dominant estate.)
• Servient tenement: The parcel that bears the burden of the easement. (Also called servient estate.)

Question 4

What is the difference between an affirmative easement and a negative easement?

Answer 4

• An affirmative easement gives its holder the right todo something on another’s land, called the servient tenement. (Most easements are affirmative.)
• A negative easement entitles its holder to compel the servient land-owner to refrain from doing something that would otherwise be permissible. (More on this in a future class.)

Question 5

What is the difference between an easement appurtenant and an easement held in gross?

Answer 5

• The easement is appurtenant when it benefits the easement holder in her physical use or enjoyment of her own land.
  -The easement is in gross when its holder realizes only a personal or commercial gain, not linked to the easement holder’s use and enjoyment of her own land

Question 6

What are four ways to create an affirmative easement?

Answer 6

• Prescription
• Implication
• Necessity
• Grant and Reservation

Question 7

Of the four ways of creating easements, which are express easements, and which are implied easements?

Answer 7

G- express
PIN- implied

Question 8

How do you create an easement by GRANT and reservation?

Answer 8

An affirmative easement can be created by grant from the servient tenement holder to the dominant tenement holder.
-The Statute of Frauds applies. Since this is an interest in land, the grant has to be in writing
-The writing is called a “deed of easement.

Question 9

How do you create an easement by grant and RESERVATION?

Answer 9

An easement can also be created by a reservation. That is, a party selling or transferring property can reserve for himself (common law and majority rule) or for a third person (modern trend, but minority rule), the right to use the property for a specified purpose.
-The Statute of Frauds also applies.
–The writing is typically contained in a land deed

Question 10

What is a license?

Answer 10

The license is a freely revocable, mere privilege to enter another’s land for some narrow purpose
– Licenses are not subject to the Statute of Frauds.Oral agreements are sufficient to create licenses

Question 11

Although licenses are freely revocable at the will of the licensor…

Answer 11

estoppel can bar revocation
– Estoppel applies when licensee has invested substantial money or labor, or both, in reasonable reliance of the license’s continuation.
– A license that cannot be revoked is treated as an easement. This is sometimes called an “irrevocable license” or an “easement by estoppel.”

Question 12

What is a profit (a prendere)?

Answer 12

– The profit entitles its holder to enter the servient tenement and take from it things attached to the land (e.g., the soil or some other resource, such as minerals, timber, oil, fish, or wildlife).
– The profit shares all of the rules of easements.
* E.g., can be held appurtenant or in gross.