easement

/eez"meuhnt/, n.

1. Law. a right held by one property owner to make use of the land of another for a limited purpose, as right of passage.

2. an easing; relief.

3. something that gives ease; a convenience.

4. Archit. a curved joint.

[1350-1400; ME esement < OF aisement, equiv. to aise EASE + -ment -MENT]

* * *

In Anglo-American property law, an interest in land owned by another that entitles its holder to a specific limited use or enjoyment, such as the right to cross the land or have a view over it continue unobstructed.

It may be created expressly by a written deed of grant conveying the specific usage right, or it may be created by implication, as when an owner divides property into two parcels in such a way that an already existing, obvious, and continuous use of one parcel (e.g., for access) is necessary for the reasonable enjoyment of the other. Some U.S. states permit the creation of an easement by prescription (acquisition of an interest), as when one person makes continuous use of another's land for some specified period of time (e.g., 20 years). Utility companies often own easements in gross; these are not dependent on ownership of the surrounding estate. Numerous other kinds of easements have been important in Anglo-American law. See also real and personal property.

* * *

▪ law

      in Anglo-American property law, a right granted by one property owner to another to use a part of his land for a specific purpose.

      An easement may be created expressly by a written deed of grant conveying to another the right to use for a specific purpose a certain parcel of land. An easement may also be created when one sells his land to another but reserves for himself the right to future use of a portion of that land. An easement may also be created by implication, when, for example, a term descriptive of an easement is incidentally included in a deed (such as “passageway”—a section of land to be used for passage). An easement by implication also arises when the owner of two or more adjacent parcels of land sells one lot; the buyer acquires an easement to that visible property of the seller necessary to the buyer's use and enjoyment of his lot, such as a roadway or drainage duct. When created in this manner the easement also arises as an easement of necessity.

      In most of the United States and England, statutes permit the creation of an easement by prescription, which arises by virtue of a long, continuous usage of the property of another by a landowner, his ancestors, or prior owners. The length of time necessary for such continued use to ripen into an easement by prescription is specified by the applicable state statute.

      When use of the easement is restricted to either one or a few individuals, it is a private easement. Use of a public easement, such as public highways or a portion of private land dedicated by a present or past owner as a public park (also known as a dedication), is not restricted.

      An owner of an easement is referred to as the owner of the dominant tenement. The owner on whose land the easement exists is the owner of the servient tenement.

* * *