DRAINAGE EASEMENTS AND AGREEMENTSDrainage Easements and Agreements • April 26th, 2005
Contract Type FiledApril 26th, 2005An easement is the right to use the land of one person for a specific purpose to benefit another’s interests. Traditionally the term “easement” is applied to two adjoining property owners. An easement holder has the right to use his neighbor’s property in some prescribed manner to benefit his own adjoining land. An obvious example is an access easement which allows a landowner to use a specific part of a neighbor’s land for access to his property. That easement is a benefit to the easement holder’s property. But the easement is also a burden to the neighbor’s property. Technically, the easement belongs to the dominant estate, rather than the person who actually owns that land. (Historically, the easement holder’s land was termed the “dominant estate” and the neighbor’s land was the “servient estate.”) Simi- larly, the easement burdens the servient estate, rather than the neighbor who holds title.