Easements come in several recognized types, and property law sorts them along three lines: who benefits from the right (appurtenant or in gross), what the right permits (affirmative or negative), and how the right came into existence (express, implied, or prescriptive). The type matters because it decides whether the easement transfers when the property is sold, whether it can be revoked, and how it can be ended.
Easement Appurtenant
An easement appurtenant is tied to a specific piece of land rather than to a person. Two properties are involved: the dominant estate, which benefits from the easement, and the servient estate, which is burdened by it. A shared driveway is the classic example. If your only access to the road runs across your neighbor’s parcel, that access right is an easement appurtenant benefiting your property.
The defining feature is that this type of easement “runs with the land.” When either property changes hands, the easement transfers automatically. The new owner of the dominant estate inherits the right to use it, and the new owner of the servient estate inherits the obligation to allow it. Neither party has to renegotiate, and neither can cancel the arrangement just because ownership changed.1Legal Information Institute. Easement
Easement in Gross
An easement in gross benefits a specific person or entity rather than a neighboring parcel. There is no dominant estate. The most familiar examples are utility easements, where a power company or water authority holds the right to run lines across private property, install equipment, and return for maintenance.
Whether an easement in gross transfers depends on whether it is personal or commercial. A personal easement in gross, like a neighbor’s right to fish in your pond, is generally tied to that individual and cannot be sold or assigned. When the holder dies or the property changes hands, the easement typically ends. Commercial easements in gross, such as those held by utility companies or pipeline operators, are treated differently. Courts and the Restatement of Property have recognized that commercial easements in gross can be transferred and assigned, which is why a utility’s access rights survive even when the utility is acquired by another company.1Legal Information Institute. Easement
Affirmative and Negative Easements
Easements can also be sorted by what they allow or restrict. An affirmative easement gives the holder the right to do something on another person’s land. Crossing the property to reach a public road, running a drainage pipe through it, or connecting to a shared sewer line all qualify. Most easements you will come across in practice are affirmative.
A negative easement works in the opposite direction. Instead of granting a right to act, it prevents the landowner from doing something otherwise legal on their own property. The traditional examples involve light and air: a negative easement might prohibit a neighbor from building a structure tall enough to block sunlight to your solar panels or windows. Negative easements are far less common today, partly because zoning laws and homeowner association rules now handle many of the same restrictions.
Conservation Easements
A conservation easement is a specialized negative easement in which a landowner permanently restricts development on their property to protect natural habitat, farmland, open space, or historic structures. The landowner keeps ownership but gives up certain rights, like the ability to subdivide or build. These easements are typically donated to a government agency or qualifying nonprofit that monitors and enforces the restrictions.
Federal law provides an income tax deduction for qualifying conservation easement donations. To qualify, the contribution must involve a qualified real property interest, go to an eligible organization, and serve an exclusively conservation purpose that is protected in perpetuity.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 170 – Charitable, Etc., Contributions and Gifts Recognized purposes include protecting wildlife habitat, preserving open space with a significant public benefit, maintaining land for public recreation or education, and preserving historically important areas.
Express Easements
An express easement is created deliberately, in writing. This is the clearest and most enforceable type because the parties spell out exactly what use is allowed, where it applies, and any conditions attached.
Express easements come in two forms. An easement by grant happens when a property owner gives another party a written right to use their land. A landowner might grant a neighbor the right to build a parking area that extends slightly onto the grantor’s lot, for example. The grant usually appears in a deed or a separate recorded agreement.
An easement by reservation works in the other direction. A landowner sells part of their property but keeps an easement over the sold portion for the benefit of the land they retain. A farmer who sells acreage but reserves the right to cross the sold parcel to reach a lake or irrigation source is a common scenario.3Legal Information Institute. Reservation
Why Recording Matters
Express easements should be recorded with the local county recording office to put future buyers on notice. If the servient estate is later sold to someone who had no idea the easement existed, the new owner may take the property free of the easement under the state’s recording statute. A buyer who checks the public records and finds nothing recorded has a strong argument that the easement doesn’t bind them. This is why a title search before a property purchase is so important, and why title insurance can be worth the cost.
Implied Easements
Not every easement is written down. Implied easements arise from the circumstances when a property is divided, even though no deed mentions them. Courts recognize them to prevent unreasonable outcomes when land is split.
Easement by Necessity
An easement by necessity exists when a parcel becomes landlocked after being divided from a larger tract. If there is no way to reach a public road except by crossing the other parcel, the law presumes that the parties intended to preserve access when the land was split. Two elements are essential: the properties must have been under common ownership before the division, and the necessity must have existed at the time of the split.4Legal Information Institute. Implied Easement by Necessity
The standard is strict necessity, not convenience. If the landlocked parcel has any other practical route to a road, even an inconvenient one, a court is unlikely to impose an easement by necessity. And if the necessity later disappears because a new road is built, the easement can terminate.
Easement by Prior Use
An easement by prior use arises when a property is divided and one part had been visibly and continuously serving the other part before the split. The classic example involves a well on one parcel that supplied water to an adjacent parcel when both were under the same ownership. After the land is sold in separate pieces, the parcel that depended on the well may hold an implied easement to continue accessing it.
Courts generally require that the use existed before the division, that it was apparent or discoverable on inspection, and that continued access is reasonably necessary for the benefited parcel. Unlike an easement by necessity, the standard here is reasonable necessity rather than absolute necessity, but the use must have been obvious enough that both parties should have expected it to continue.
Prescriptive Easements
A prescriptive easement is earned through long-term, unauthorized use. It resembles adverse possession in concept, but it grants only a right to use the land, not ownership of it. Someone who has openly used a path across your property for years without your permission could eventually gain a legal right to keep doing so.5Legal Information Institute. Prescriptive Easement
Establishing a prescriptive easement requires meeting several conditions. The use must be open and notorious, meaning visible enough that a reasonable property owner would notice it. It must be continuous and uninterrupted for the full statutory period, though seasonal use can qualify if it matches the nature of the activity. It must be adverse or hostile, meaning without the owner’s permission; a grant of permission, even informal, defeats this element and resets the clock. And it must last for the state’s required period, which varies widely from as few as five years to twenty or more.6Legal Information Institute. Easement by Prescription
Easement vs. License
People sometimes confuse easements with licenses, and the difference matters. A license is just permission to use someone’s land. It can be revoked at any time, doesn’t create a property interest, and doesn’t transfer with the land. If your neighbor says “sure, you can park in my driveway while your garage is being repaired,” that’s a license. Your neighbor can change their mind tomorrow, and if they sell the property, the new owner has no obligation to honor the arrangement.
An easement, by contrast, is an actual interest in real property. It generally cannot be revoked at will, it may bind future owners, and the holder is entitled to compensation if the government condemns the land. A handshake agreement you’ve relied on for years might feel like a permanent right, but unless it qualifies as an easement, it likely remains a revocable license.
How Easements End
Easements don’t necessarily last forever. Several events can terminate one:
- Merger. If one person acquires both the dominant and servient estates, the easement is automatically extinguished. You cannot hold an easement over your own land.
- Release. The holder can voluntarily give up the right by signing a written release, which should be recorded in the property records.
- Abandonment. If the holder takes actions that clearly show an intent to permanently stop using the easement, a court may declare it abandoned. Mere nonuse is not enough; there must be affirmative conduct, such as removing infrastructure or making written statements disclaiming the easement.
- Expiration. Some easements are created for a fixed term or until a specific event occurs. When the term runs out or the event happens, the easement ends.
- End of necessity. An easement by necessity can terminate when the necessity no longer exists, such as when a new public road provides alternative access to a formerly landlocked parcel.1Legal Information Institute. Easement
Removing an easement from your property records usually requires either a signed release from the holder or a court order. If you believe an easement on your land has been abandoned or is no longer necessary, a quiet title action is the standard route for getting it formally removed. Until a court rules or the holder signs a release, the easement remains enforceable even if no one has used it in years.