An easement is a legal right that allows one person or entity (the “dominant owner”) to use the land of another person or entity (the “servient owner”) for a specific purpose. Easements can be either positive or negative.
A positive easement gives the dominant owner the right to do something on the servient owner’s land, such as access, light, or support. For example, if a homeowner has an easement giving them the right to use a private road to access their property, they have a positive easement.
A negative easement, on the other hand, imposes a restriction on the servient owner’s use of their land. For example, a homeowner with a negative easement prohibiting them from building on a certain part of their property would not be able to use that part of their land for any purpose that would obstruct the dominant owner’s rights.
Easements can be created by express grant (where the servient owner agrees to grant the easement to the dominant owner) or by implication (where the dominant owner has used the servient owner’s land for a certain purpose for a certain period of time and it can be inferred that the servient owner intended to grant an easement). Easements can also be acquired by prescription, which is a form of adverse possession, or by necessity.
