Also known as: ways · right of way
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A right to travel over another's property. The right may arise by grant, prescription, or necessity and is typically classified as an easement.
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Walter Washington regularly crossed a worn path on Winona Walsh's property to reach the public road. When Walsh fenced the path, Washington claimed a prescriptive right of way. The court examined long use to decide whether the way had ripened into an easement.
Waverly Insurance bought land from Winston West after the contract promised a gravel access way. The deed contained no such language. After closing, Waverly sued to enforce the access way, arguing the promise was independent of the conveyance and survived merger.
Winston West testified that his grandfather had always used a private way across adjacent land. The statement concerned the declarant's own ancestry and family history. The court admitted the testimony under the hearsay exception even though the declarant lacked personal knowledge of the way's origin.
Winona Walsh's will granted her daughter a perpetual way across retained land to reach the highway. The testator understood her property holdings and the natural objects of her bounty. The court upheld the way as a valid donative transfer because the testator possessed the required mental capacity.
A lieutenant governor cast a tie-breaking vote that opened a public way across state land. Legislators who had voted against the measure claimed their votes were nullified. The court recognized their standing because the executive action produced a concrete, personal injury.
Wellesley Media LLC granted a recorded way across its land to a neighboring owner. A creditor later sued a member personally for an LLC debt arising from maintenance of that way. The court held the member not personally liable solely because of membership status.
A way is simply a type of easement that grants passage rather than some other use. Courts treat it under the same rules that govern easements generally, including creation by grant, prescription, or necessity.
Yes. Like other easements, a way may be extinguished by abandonment when the holder demonstrates intent to relinquish the right and acts consistent with that intent.
Merger does not bar enforcement of a way when the parties intended the access promise to survive or when the promise is independent of the conveyance itself.
…the State, in promoting its interest in the health of the mother, may, if it chooses, regulate the abortion procedure in ways that are reasonably related to maternal health. Pp. 163-164. (e) For the stage subsequent to viability, the State in promoting its interest in the potentiality of human life may, if it…