Also known as: à prendre · profit à prendre · profit a prendre
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A nonpossessory interest in land that authorizes its holder to enter land possessed by another and remove natural substances such as timber, minerals, oil, gas, or game. The interest is commonly shortened to profit and may be held appurtenant to another parcel or in gross.
Canyon Concrete has driven trucks onto Horizon Development's hillside tract for eight years to quarry gravel and sand from a designated pit. After a management change Horizon fences the access road and refuses further entry. Canyon sues to enforce its continuing right to enter and remove the aggregate.
Amber Alonzo grants Arthur Abrams a recorded right to cut and remove timber from her woodland parcel. Abrams later asserts the interest qualifies as a profit a prendre under modern categories that developed after medieval distinctions between incorporeal hereditaments and covenants.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A profit authorizes entry onto another's land plus removal of substances such as minerals or timber. An easement authorizes only entry and use without removal of resources from the servient land.
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No. The interest must be created by a writing that satisfies the statute of frauds. Informal permissions or revocable licenses do not ripen into a profit even after years of consistent removal and payment.
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No. A pipeline easement grants only use rights for construction and operation. Extraction of gas from land outside the corridor requires a separate grant of a profit. Silence in the deed prevents implying removal rights.
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