Creation of Easements:

o easement can be created through an express grant

o easement is an interest in land, the Statute of Frauds applies, and any express grant of an easement must
be in writing, and signed by the party to be charged (holder of the servient estate-the person whose land
will be burdened by the easement)
o A grantor can also convey title to land but reserve for himself the right to continue to use that land for a
specific purpose
o easement by implication. In easement by implication writing is not required.
One easement by implication is an easement implied from existing use
strict requirements:
o Look for a situation in which there is one tract of land
o Prior to the division of that single tract, an apparent and continuous use exists on the
part of the land that is not being granted to another
o That use is necessary for the enjoyment of the part of the land that is being granted to
another
o court must determine that the parties to the transaction intended the use to continue
after the division of the land.
easement by implication is an easement by necessity
arises when a landowner sells a portion of his tract and by this division deprives one lot of
access to a public road or utility line
owner of the land that is now deprived of such necessity has the right to cross the tract of
land that will allow the owner to reach the public road or utility line.
an easement by implication can be created by prescription.
essentially, adverse possession
requires that one uses another's land (rather than possesses the land as in traditional adverse
possession) AND
use is open and notorious, adverse, continuous and uninterrupted, for the statutory period.
Termination of Easements:
o stated conditions in the writing of an express easement-- original easement grant can specify when or
under what conditions the easement will terminate.
o Merger- If the same person acquires ownership of both the easement and the servient estate, the
easement is destroyed
So, for example, assume that X is the owner of an easement allowing X to cross over Y's land. If
X subsequently purchases Y's land from Y, X's easement over Y's land terminates, as X now owns
the easement, and the servient estate, causing the easement to merge into the servient estate.
o abandon the easement- holder must demonstrate by physical action (for example, building a wall that
blocks access to the easement) an intent to permanently abandon the easement- Merely expressing a
wish to abandon will not suffice.
o estoppel -Oral expressions of an intent to abandon, without any physical action accompanying that
expression, generally do not rise to the level of abandonment of the easement. But if the owner of the
servient estate changes his position in reasonable reliance on the representations made by the owner of
the easement, the easement terminates through estoppel.
o If an easement was created by necessity, the easement expires as soon as the necessity ends.
o Prescription-To terminate by this method, there must be an adverse, continuous interruption of the use
of the easement for the statutory period.