Also known as: lateral support · subjacent support · right of lateral support · right of subjacent support · right to lateral support · right to subjacent support · support rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A right incident to land ownership that entitles a possessor to the naturally necessary lateral support of adjoining land and subjacent support from below. Withdrawal of that support subjects the actor to liability for subsidence of the land in its natural state and for harm to artificial additions when the withdrawal is negligent.
Laura Lewis owns a hillside lot next to a commercial development. When the developer excavates deeply without shoring, Lewis's soil shifts and her foundation cracks. The court imposes liability on the developer for withdrawing naturally necessary lateral support even though an independent contractor performed the work.
Luna Lang owns a unit in a hillside condominium. After heavy rains the common slope begins to slide, threatening her foundation. The association board elects not to install retaining structures. Lang recovers damages because the association's inaction withdrew the subjacent support her unit naturally required.
Lakeshore Industries owns surface land above a coal seam. A mining company removes pillars that had provided subjacent support, causing the surface to subside and damaging buildings. The court treats the support estate as inseparable from the surface and holds the miner liable for the resulting harm.
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Leonard Lowe buys the mineral rights beneath his neighbor's farm. When he extracts coal and the surface drops, the neighbor sues. The court rules that the support estate remains with the surface owner, so Lowe's removal of subjacent support creates liability regardless of any attempted separate conveyance.
No. Strict liability attaches when naturally necessary lateral support is withdrawn and the land in its natural state subsides. Negligence is required only when artificial additions are damaged or when the support withdrawn was not naturally necessary.
Lateral support protects against horizontal withdrawal from adjoining land at the sides. Subjacent support protects against vertical withdrawal from beneath the surface. Both rest on the same principle that land in its natural state is entitled to the support it naturally receives.
Yes. An employer who knows or should know that the contracted work is likely to withdraw lateral support remains subject to the same liability as if the employer had performed the work directly.
The right protects land in its natural state without negligence. Once artificial additions are involved, liability requires a showing that the withdrawal was negligent or that the support had already been substituted for naturally necessary support.
…by one who does not also possess either the mineral estate or the surface estate. See Montgomery, The Development of the Right of Subjacent Support and the Third Estate in Pennsylvania,' 25 Temple L. Q. 1, 21 (1951)." 771 F. 2d, at 715-716. Thus, in practical terms, the support estate has value only insofar as it protects or…