what is an easement in real estate

An easement is a legal situation in which the title to a specific piece of land remains with the landowner, but another individual or entity is granted the right to use that land for a specific purpose. Easements are a feature of real estate that grants non-owners limited rights to use your property. An easement, by definition, grants another person, entity, or business the right to access or use someone else’s property. It basically gives a non-titled party an interest in the property. The owner still has full ownership and rights to the land, but that is limited by the rights of the easement holder, who has rights to use it for specific reasons. Easements are divided into two classifications: affirmative easements and negative easements. An affirmative easement gives a grantee the right to use the grantors property for a specific purpose, while a negative easement prevents the grantor from using their property in a certain way. Easements can be appurtenant or in gross. An easement appurtenant benefits an adjoining parcel of land regardless of who owns that land. Easements appurtenant are characterized by the presence of a dominant estate and a servient estate. The land that benefits from the easement is known as the dominant estate; the land that is burdened by the easement is referred to as the servient estate. Common examples of easements include adjacent property owner rights that allow your neighbor to access a shared driveway or go across your land to reach their own property. Easements can affect the value of a property, and it is important to understand the terms of any easements before purchasing a property.