Also known as: servient tenements · servient estate
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The parcel of land subject to an easement held by the owner of another parcel. The possessor of the servient tenement remains entitled to use the land in any manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the easement.
Apex Industrial Park LLC owns land uphill from a rail spur. Its predecessor recorded a written grant allowing trucks to cross an adjacent factory lot on a paved road. Nexus Manufacturing Corp later bought the factory lot and announced plans to block the road. The factory lot is the servient tenement, so Nexus takes title subject to the recorded access right and cannot block the trucks.
O owns Blackacre and grants Pipeline Company an easement for a high-pressure gas line. O later grants A an easement for a road across the same land to reach Whiteacre. Both easements burden Blackacre as the servient tenement. The holders of each easement must contribute to repair costs for any shared portions they both use.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Simone Sanders owns Lot 6 and grants Sarah Sullivan an easement for a driveway across it to reach Lot 7. Before the conveyance the path was used only for foot traffic. After the sale Sullivan begins driving delivery trucks over the same strip. The pre-conveyance use of the servient tenement helps determine whether the expanded vehicle use is permitted.
Power Company holds an easement over the northerly five feet of Blackacre for an electric transmission line. The owner of Blackacre plants mature trees that grow into the easement area. The servient owner may use the land in any way that does not unreasonably interfere with the transmission line, so the trees must be removed.
Sean Steele conveys Lot 6 to Sofia Stern while reserving an easement for access across it. After the conveyance Stern widens the road to accommodate larger farm equipment. The post-conveyance use of the servient tenement is examined to decide whether the expanded width exceeds the scope of the original grant.
A developer records mutual restrictions on multiple lots in a subdivision. One lot serves as the servient tenement for access and view easements benefiting the others. When the developer later acquires all lots and then sells one, the buyer of the former servient lot takes subject to the recorded burdens that survived the period of unified ownership.
The servient tenement is the parcel burdened by the easement. The dominant tenement is the parcel benefited by the easement. An easement appurtenant requires both parcels. An easement in gross requires only a servient tenement.
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The beneficiary of the easement must repair and maintain portions under its control to prevent unreasonable interference with the servient estate or liability to third parties. The servient owner has no affirmative duty to repair unless the parties have agreed otherwise or joint use creates a contribution obligation.
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Yes. The servient owner may make any use of the land that does not unreasonably interfere with the easement. Planting trees, building structures, or conducting ordinary activities remains permissible so long as the easement holder's rights are not substantially impaired.
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Courts examine the language of the grant, the circumstances surrounding its execution, the use made of the servient tenement before and after the conveyance, and whether the use is reasonably necessary for the dominant estate's normal development.
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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…