. Which of the following is true about easements appurtenant?
a. They “run with the land.”
b. They are temporary.
c. They give a person authority to remove something from the land of another.
d. They benefit a particular person as opposed to the land.
a. the dominant estate.
b. the servient estate.
c. the licensed estate.
d. a profit.
The Correct and E xplanation is:
Correct Answers:
- a. They “run with the land.”
- b. The servient estate.
Detailed Explanation (300+ words)
An easement appurtenant is a type of easement that involves two separate parcels of land owned by different parties: one benefitted parcel and one burdened parcel. It is a legal right that one landowner has to use a portion of a neighboring property for a specific purpose, and this right is tied to the land itself, not to the individual person.
1. Easement Appurtenant “Runs with the Land”
The correct answer is (a) They “run with the land.” This means that the easement automatically transfers with the property when either parcel is sold. The easement benefits the dominant estate (the property that gains the benefit) and burdens the servient estate (the property that must allow the easement). The easement is not temporary and not personal—it continues to exist even when ownership changes, which is the essence of “running with the land.”
- Option (b) is incorrect because easements appurtenant are generally permanent, unless a termination clause is included.
- Option (c) refers to a profit à prendre, not an easement. A profit allows the holder to remove natural resources like minerals or timber.
- Option (d) describes an easement in gross, which benefits a person or entity, not a parcel of land.
2. Servient Estate is the Burdened Land
The correct answer is (b) the servient estate. In an easement appurtenant, the servient estate is the land that bears the burden of the easement—this is the property across which someone has the right to travel or use for a specific purpose.
- Option (a), the dominant estate, is the land that benefits from the easement.
- Option (c), licensed estate, is incorrect because a license is a temporary and revocable permission—not a property interest like an easement.
- Option (d), a profit, refers to the right to take something (like crops or minerals) from another’s land—not the concept of land burdened by an easement.