What is an easement?

An easement is a property law term used to describe a legal right to use part of another person’s property. In North Carolina, an easement gives a person, typically a neighbor, the right to travel over that person’s land for a specific reason or purpose, such as to access a shared driveway. An easement can be created by an agreement between two parties, known as a “grant”, or it can occur through the law, known as a “prescriptive” easement. A prescriptive easement arises when a party has been using the same portion of property for a continuous period of time and has been open about it. Other types of easements include easements by implication, which occur when a deed is silent about a certain part of the land, and an easement in gross, which is an easement that does not benefit anyone besides the person who obtains the easement. Easements are usually permanent and the owner of the land burdened by an easement can still use their own land as they please as long as it does not interfere with the easement holder’s right of use. In North Carolina, land owners must be respectful of other people’s easements and not do anything that could interfere with them. If there is an issue with an easement, the North Carolina courts are available to settle the dispute.

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