Also known as: nondominant tenement · non dominant tenement · servient tenement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A parcel of land that receives no benefit from an easement appurtenant to a separate dominant tenement. The parcel therefore remains free of any corresponding right to use a servient tenement.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Nia Nkosi owns Parcel A burdened by an easement allowing tractor access to Parcel B. Nina Nielsen owns Parcel C, which abuts the same servient land but was never designated to receive the benefit. When Nina attempts to drive across Parcel A, the court holds that Parcel C is a non-dominant tenement and therefore confers no right of use.
Nancy Nelson sells land to Nalini Narula while retaining an adjacent parcel. The deed creates an easement across the sold land for the benefit of the retained parcel only. After the sale, Nalini begins using the easement for a third parcel she later acquires. The court treats that third parcel as non-dominant because its pre-conveyance use never qualified it for the benefit.
Nigel Nelson acquires a farm subject to an access easement benefiting only the original dominant parcel. After purchase, Nigel begins routing equipment from a newly purchased neighboring tract across the servient land. The court rules the new tract remains a non-dominant tenement because post-conveyance use cannot enlarge the easement's benefit.
Nyah Ndlovu owns a lot next to a servient parcel that carries an easement for the benefit of a distant dominant tenement. When Nyah attempts to cross the servient land to reach her own property, the court determines her lot is a non-dominant tenement and therefore grants no right of passage.
Nova Pharmaceuticals purchases a research site adjacent to a servient parcel subject to an access easement benefiting only the original dominant parcel. Nova begins using the easement for deliveries to its new site. The court holds that the research site is a non-dominant tenement and therefore cannot claim the easement benefit.
A servient tenement is the land burdened by the easement. A non-dominant tenement is simply any parcel that receives no benefit from the easement, even if it lies near the servient land.
Supporting sources
No. The easement benefit is fixed at creation to the dominant tenement. Subsequent owners of other parcels cannot unilaterally expand the easement to include their land.
The buyer may use the easement only for the benefit of the dominant parcel. Use for the benefit of the non-dominant parcel exceeds the scope of the easement.
Supporting sources
…“a substantial variance in the mode of or extent of user or enjoyment of the easement-so as to throw a greater burden on the servient tenement.” Bernards v. Link , 248 P.2d at 347. Most state courts that have been faced with the question of whether conversion to a nature trail falls within the scope of an original railroad…