What is an Easement in Real Estate?

An easement is a non-possessory right to use another person's land for a specific purpose. Unlike a lease or ownership, an easement does not give the holder the right to occupy or possess the land — only to use it in a limited way. The two main categories of easements are easement appurtenant and easement in gross.

An easement appurtenant benefits an adjacent property (the dominant tenement) and burdens the property it crosses (the servient tenement). A classic example is a driveway easement that crosses one property to provide access to another. Easements appurtenant "run with the land," meaning they transfer automatically when either property is sold.

An easement in gross benefits a specific person or entity rather than a property — utility easements are the most common example, allowing power companies to maintain power lines across private property. Easements can be created in several ways: by express grant (written agreement), by reservation (seller retains an easement when selling property), by necessity (landlocked property needs access), by prescription (similar to adverse possession — continuous, open, hostile use for the statutory period), and by implication (based on prior use when property is divided). Easements can be terminated by merger (same person owns both properties), release (written agreement), abandonment (non-use plus intent to abandon), or adverse possession by the servient owner.