Types of easements
What is an easement by necessity?
An easement by necessity gives a landlocked parcel legal access across a neighboring parcel when no other reasonable access exists.
When a parcel is completely surrounded by other private land and has no public road frontage, the law may imply an easement by necessity over the most reasonable route to a public road. The easement is usually the shortest and least damaging path.
This type of easement is implied by law, not created by a written document. It typically requires strict necessity at the time the parcels were separated from common ownership, though some states relax this standard.
An easement by necessity can be lost if the dominant parcel gains another access route. It is also narrower than many written easements and may allow only ingress and egress, not parking or utilities.
What this looks like in practice
An easement by necessity arises when a parcel is cut off from public access by the division of a larger tract. The law implies a right of access because land without legal access is effectively unusable, and courts presume the parties to the original split did not intend that result.
Two elements do most of the work: there must have been common ownership at some point, and the necessity must have existed when the parcels were severed. A parcel that lost access later, for a different reason, generally does not qualify. Because nothing is recorded, establishing one usually means tracing the chain of title back to the split.
What to do next
- 1Trace the chain of title to find when the landlocked parcel was severed from the parent tract.
- 2Confirm that no other legal access existed at the moment of severance.
- 3Identify the most reasonable route across the burdened parcel; courts favor the least burdensome practical alignment.
- 4Record the resulting agreement or judgment so future owners and title searches can find it.
What to look for
- Whether the parcel has any public road frontage.
- The common ownership history of the dominant and servient parcels.
- The most reasonable route to a public road.
- Whether the necessity still exists or has been eliminated by a new access route.
Questions people ask next
Is a difficult route the same as no access?
Usually not. Most states require strict necessity, inconvenience, expense, or poor road quality generally does not qualify if some legal access exists.
Who chooses where the access runs?
The burdened owner often gets the first say on a reasonable location; if the parties cannot agree, a court fixes an alignment that serves the need with the least burden.
Does the landlocked owner pay for it?
Construction and maintenance of the access route are typically the benefited owner's responsibility, and some states allow compensation to the burdened owner.
General educational reference only. Prescription periods and their exceptions change, and several states set the period by case law rather than by statute. Read the linked official code and consult a licensed attorney in that state before relying on any of it.
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