What Is an Easement?
An easement gives someone the legal right to use a portion of your property for a specific purpose, even though they do not own it. The property burdened by the easement is the "servient estate." The property (or person) that benefits from the easement is the "dominant estate."
Easements are real property interests that "run with the land," meaning they bind every future owner of the property, not just the owner who originally granted the easement.
Types of Easements
- Utility Easements — The most common type. The power company, water utility, or cable provider has the right to install, maintain, and repair infrastructure on a strip of your property.
- Access Easements — A landlocked parcel has no road frontage. The owner of the landlocked parcel has an easement to cross the neighboring property to reach a public road.
- Drainage Easements — The government or water management district has the right to manage stormwater flow across a portion of private property.
- Conservation Easements — The property owner permanently restricts development on a portion of their land in exchange for tax benefits.
- Prescriptive Easements — Acquired through continuous, open, and adverse use of another's property for the statutory period (20 years in Florida).
How Easements Are Created
- Express Grant — Written document recorded in the county Official Records.
- Implication — Implied by the circumstances when a property is divided.
- Necessity — Created by law when a parcel has no other access to a public road.
- Prescription — Acquired through 20 years of continuous, hostile use.
Related Terms
- Drainage Easement — A specific type focused on stormwater management
- Encroachment — When a structure physically intrudes into an easement area
- Survey — The document that shows easement locations on the property
Barnes Walker Easement Law
Barnes Walker's real estate attorneys create, negotiate, and litigate easements across Florida, resolving access disputes, utility conflicts, and prescriptive easement claims that affect our clients' property rights and development plans. Request a legal inquiry for assistance.
Florida Law Reference
Fla. Stat. Ch. 704
Governs the creation, scope, and termination of easements in Florida, including easements by necessity and prescription.
Reviewed by the attorneys at Barnes Walker, Goethe, Shea & Robinson, PLLC