Also known as: servitudes by necessity · servitude of necessity · easement by necessity
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An implied nonpossessory interest in land that arises upon severance of commonly owned parcels when one parcel is left without access to a public road or other essential right. The interest continues only while the necessity that prompted its creation persists.
Seth Shapiro sold a landlocked parcel to Simone Sanders without reserving an access easement. A necessity servitude arose over Seth's retained land for ingress and egress. Years later Simone purchased an adjoining strip that gave her parcel direct frontage on a county road. Once the new access became available the servitude terminated because the original necessity no longer existed.
Santiago Sanchez and Sierra Santos acquired separate parcels that had never shared common title with the neighboring tracts. Both parcels lacked road access. They sued the surrounding owners seeking servitudes by necessity. The claims failed because no prior unity of ownership had been severed to create the necessity.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
The servitude continues only while the necessity that created it persists. Acquisition of alternative permanent access ends the servitude even if the new route is less convenient.
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The servitude arises only when a conveyance severs unity of ownership and leaves one parcel without necessary access that it previously enjoyed. No servitude is implied if the parcel never held the access right before severance.
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No. Each subdivided parcel inherits the same access privileges that the original dominant estate possessed. The servitude runs to the land rather than to any single owner.
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…to extend to the foreshore or whether the public's right of way from the public streets to the foreshore exists because of an easement by necessity, dedication, or prescription. It has been contended that “trespass actions will not lie against New Jersey citizens who, without injuring improvements, traverse upland beach abutting a…