Easements provide real property access to parties other than owners. Some easements allow neighbors to access water. Others allow utility companies to use part of a property for power lines or other infrastructure.
Easements serve a critical purpose by facilitating access to properties without road frontage and ensuring that companies providing utility services can access even remote locations. However, easements can impact property value and also how an owner uses their real estate holdings.
In some cases, it may be possible to terminate or extinguish an easement. The following are some of the most common ways that easements are dissolved.
1. Through agreement
In scenarios where an easement extends rights to family members, neighbors or local businesses, there may come a point where the easement is no longer necessary. In such scenarios, both parties may agree to sign a document extinguishing the easement. The property owner can then take the appropriate legal steps to update the title records for the property to reflect that the easement is no longer in effect.
2. Through abandonment
For an easement to remain in effect, the party granted access generally needs to routinely make use of that right. The failure to do so could lead to allegations of abandoning the easement. If years have passed since the last time the easement proved useful, the property owner could take legal action to remove the easement by asserting abandonment and therefore a lack of need for the easement.
3. Through expiration
Some easements include specific termination dates. One party may only have access for a certain number of years. Other times, the easement might theoretically extinguish when certain conditions are met. A property owner using an easement to access their home without road frontage may have agreed to terms allowing for the termination of the easement once they have a driveway installed.
There are also other, less common scenarios in which property owners can extinguish an easement with or without the cooperation of the party granted access through the easement.
Discussing property concerns and the terms of a current easement with a skilled legal team can help property owners determine if extinguishing an easement is realistic. Those who discuss their concerns with someone familiar with real estate laws can understand their options and take appropriate actions to resolve their concerns.
