Also known as: servient estate · servient tenement · servient tenements
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A parcel of land subject to an easement that benefits another parcel. The possessor of the servient estate must allow the easement holder to exercise the rights granted by the servitude.
Serena Soto owns a parcel crossed by an underground utility line serving Sylvia Santos's adjacent farm. When Serena attempts to block access to the line, the court recognizes her land as the servient estate because it is subject to the easement benefiting Sylvia's property.
Sarah Sullivan holds an easement for a pipeline across Steven Silva's ranch. After a leak damages the pipeline, Sarah must repair the affected portion of Steven's land because the beneficiary of the easement bears the duty to maintain the servient estate under her control.
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Scott Summers conveys land to Simon Stern while retaining an access easement. The prior use of the servient tenement for foot traffic before the conveyance limits the easement to pedestrian passage rather than vehicle use.
Synergy Systems owns land burdened by a recorded right-of-way. The company plants crops on the servient estate outside the path used by Sapphire Technologies, because the servient holder may make any use that does not unreasonably interfere with the easement.
Sterling Manufacturing acquires the servient parcel after an easement for drainage is created. Continued agricultural use of the land after the conveyance confirms that the easement permits only surface water flow and does not authorize new subsurface pipes.
Sierra Solutions owns the dominant parcel with an access easement across the neighboring servient estate. When the company attempts to use the easement to reach an additional parcel it recently acquired, the servient owner obtains an injunction because the easement may not benefit land outside the original dominant estate.
The servient estate is the land burdened by the easement, while the dominant estate receives the benefit. The possessor of the servient estate must permit the limited use authorized by the servitude.
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The servient estate owner generally has no duty to repair or maintain the easement area unless the parties agree otherwise or joint use creates shared contribution duties.
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Yes. The servient owner may make any use of the land that does not unreasonably interfere with the easement holder's enjoyment of the servitude.
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Courts consider the use made of the servient tenement both before and after the conveyance creating the easement when determining the permitted scope of the servitude.
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…Reed, J.; Petrich, C.J., and Petrie, J., concur Opinion of Reed, J. Defendants, Fred and Hattie Voss, owners of the servient estate, appeal from a judgment that denied their counterclaim for an injunction against Will and Jean Brown, plaintiffs, owners of the dominant estate. Defendants requested the injunction to…