What Is an Easement? How Easements Affect Your Property

Imagine discovering that your neighbor has the legal right to drive across your backyard every day, or that you cannot build a shed in your side yard because a utility company owns the right to dig there anytime. These scenarios describe easements—one of the most misunderstood aspects of property ownership.

Easements affect millions of properties across Utah, from rural ranches with access easements to suburban homes with utility easements. While you hold title to your property, easements can significantly limit how you use certain areas. Understanding what easements exist on your property and what rights they grant others is essential for avoiding disputes and making informed decisions about your land.

Through nearly six decades of title work across Utah, Prospect Title has helped property owners navigate complex easement issues. This guide explains what easements are, how they're created, what impact they have on your property rights, and how title insurance protects you from easement-related problems.

What Exactly Is a Property Easement?

An easement grants someone the right to use part of your property for a specific purpose, even though they don't own it. The property owner retains ownership and can continue using the land, but must allow the easement holder to exercise their rights as well.

Property subject to an easement has two associated properties or parties:

• The servient estate: The property burdened by the easement—the land that must allow the use
• The dominant estate: The property or party that benefits from the easement—the one who gets to use the servient property

For example, if your property (the servient estate) has an access easement that allows your neighbor (the dominant estate) to use your driveway to reach their landlocked property, you must permit that use even though you own the driveway.

Easements are different from licenses and leases:

• A license is temporary permission to use property that can be revoked at any time
• A lease grants exclusive possession of property for a specified period in exchange for rent
• An easement is a permanent property right that transfers with the land when it's sold

What Are the Different Types of Easements?

Easements come in many forms, each serving different purposes and carrying different implications for property owners:

Utility Easements

Utility easements are among the most common, granting power companies, gas providers, water districts, telecommunications companies, and sewer authorities the right to install and maintain infrastructure on your property. These easements typically allow the utility to:

• Install lines, pipes, or cables underground or overhead
• Access the easement area to maintain, repair, or replace infrastructure
• Remove vegetation that interferes with utilities
• Excavate when necessary for repairs

In Utah's growing communities, utility easements are standard in virtually every subdivision. They're typically located along property lines and in back yards, running 5 to 15 feet wide. Most homeowners barely notice utility easements unless excavation becomes necessary.

Access Easements (Right-of-Way Easements)

Access easements grant the right to cross one property to reach another. These are common in rural Utah where properties may not directly border public roads, and in subdivisions where multiple properties share a private road.

Access easements can be:

• Exclusive: Only the easement holder may use the access route
• Non-exclusive: Both the property owner and easement holder may use the route
• Shared: Multiple properties share the same access easement

These easements often create maintenance questions: Who pays to maintain the road or driveway? Who pays for snow removal? Who's responsible if the access route deteriorates? Well-drafted easement documents address these issues, but older easements may not, leading to disputes.

Drainage Easements

Drainage easements direct water flow across properties, preventing flooding and erosion. They're particularly important in Utah where water management is critical. These easements typically:

• Allow water to flow naturally across property according to historical drainage patterns
• Prevent property owners from blocking drainage
• May allow municipalities to install and maintain drainage infrastructure
• Often prohibit building structures in the drainage area

In Utah's mountain communities and areas prone to flash flooding, drainage easements are especially important. Violating a drainage easement by blocking water flow can lead to flooding on neighboring properties and legal liability.

Conservation Easements

Conservation easements restrict development to preserve land in its natural state, protect agricultural use, or maintain historical features. Property owners voluntarily grant these easements, often to land trusts or government agencies, typically in exchange for tax benefits.

Utah has significant ranch land and natural areas protected by conservation easements. These easements might prohibit:

• Subdivision or development
• Commercial activities
• Removal of native vegetation
• Certain types of construction

Conservation easements are permanent and run with the land, so future owners must honor the restrictions even if they want to develop the property.

Solar and Wind Easements

These specialized easements protect access to sunlight or wind for energy generation purposes. As Utah embraces renewable energy, solar easements are becoming more common, preventing neighbors from building structures or planting trees that would shade solar panels.

How Is an Easement Appurtenant Different from an Easement in Gross?

Easements are also classified by whether they benefit a specific property or a person/entity:

Easement Appurtenant

An easement appurtenant benefits a specific piece of adjoining property (the dominant estate) and burdens another property (the servient estate). The easement transfers automatically when either property is sold.

Example: Property A is landlocked and has an access easement across Property B to reach the public road. This easement appurtenant benefits Property A and burdens Property B. If the owner of Property A sells to a new buyer, the easement automatically transfers to the new owner—they get the same access rights the previous owner had.

Easement in Gross

An easement in gross benefits a person or entity rather than a specific piece of land. These easements may or may not be transferable depending on their terms.

Example: Rocky Mountain Power has an easement in gross to run power lines across multiple properties. The easement benefits the utility company (not a specific property), and the company can transfer the easement or merge with another utility while retaining the easement rights.

Most utility easements are easements in gross. Personal easements granted to individuals (like allowing a friend to hunt on your land) are also easements in gross and typically cannot be transferred.

How Are Easements Created?

Easements come into existence through several different mechanisms:

Express Easement

An express easement is created through a written document—typically a deed or separate easement agreement—that clearly grants the easement rights. This is the most common and cleanest way to create an easement. The document is recorded with the county recorder, providing public notice.

Express easements should specify:

• The exact location and dimensions of the easement
• The purpose of the easement
• Any limitations on use
• Maintenance responsibilities
• Whether the easement is exclusive or shared

Easement by Necessity

When property is landlocked with no legal access to a public road, Utah courts may recognize an easement by necessity across neighboring property. This typically occurs when a single property is divided and one portion becomes landlocked.

Requirements for an easement by necessity in Utah include:

• The dominant and servient estates were once under common ownership
• The easement is necessary (not merely convenient) for access
• The necessity existed at the time the properties were severed

These easements terminate if the necessity ends—for example, if the landlocked property gains access to a public road through another route.

Prescriptive Easement

Similar to adverse possession, a prescriptive easement arises when someone uses another's property openly and continuously for a specific period. In Utah, the prescriptive period is 20 years.

To establish a prescriptive easement, the use must be:

• Open and notorious: Visible and obvious, not hidden
• Continuous: Regular and uninterrupted for 20 years
• Adverse: Without the owner's permission
• Under claim of right: As if the user had a legal right to do so

Example: A neighbor uses a path across your property to access the back of their land for 20 years. Even without written permission, they may have established a prescriptive easement. This is why property owners should take action if they notice others regularly using their land without permission.

Easement by Implication

Courts may imply an easement when property is divided and the circumstances show the parties intended to create an easement, even though they didn't document it. This often involves existing roads or utility lines serving a property.

If a developer sells lots in a subdivision and some lots can only be accessed by a road crossing other lots, courts may find an implied easement for access even if deeds don't explicitly grant it.

How Do You Find Out If Your Property Has Easements?

Discovering existing easements is a crucial part of due diligence when buying property:

Title Search and Title Commitment

When you purchase property, the title company conducts a comprehensive title search that examines all recorded documents affecting the property. The title commitment will list all recorded easements as "exceptions"—items to which your title is subject.

The commitment should include copies of recorded easement documents showing:

• Who holds the easement
• The easement's purpose
• The easement's location (though often not precisely surveyed)
• Any terms or restrictions

Review these easement documents carefully. If something seems problematic—like a broad easement that might allow significant disturbance—discuss it with your real estate agent and consider whether it affects your intended use of the property.

Property Survey

A survey provides the most accurate information about easement locations. The surveyor will mark easement boundaries on the ground and show them on the survey plat. This reveals exactly where easements are located relative to structures, landscaping, and property lines.

A survey can also reveal physical evidence of unrecorded easements—paths, utility lines, drainage structures, or access roads that may indicate easement rights even if they're not documented.

Physical Inspection

Walk your property and look for signs of easements:

• Utility markers or boxes
• Overhead power lines
• Roads or driveways serving other properties
• Drainage ditches or culverts
• Worn paths indicating regular use
• Survey stakes marked "easement"

County Records

You can search county recorder records yourself in most Utah counties. Many have online databases where you can search by property address or parcel number and view recorded documents. Look for documents titled "easement," "right of way," or similar terms.

What Impact Do Easements Have on Property Value?

Easements affect property value in various ways depending on their nature and impact:

Minimal Impact

• Standard utility easements: These are expected in developed areas and rarely affect value since they typically don't interfere with normal property use
• Easements benefiting the property: Easements that provide your property with access, utilities, or other benefits may actually increase value by making the property usable

Moderate Impact

• Access easements across the property: Allowing others to cross your land can reduce value by 5-15%, particularly if the easement affects privacy, safety, or limits where you can build
• Drainage easements restricting building: If an easement prevents construction in desirable locations, it may moderately reduce value

Significant Impact

• Large utility corridors: Major transmission lines or pipelines crossing prime portions of property can substantially reduce value
• Public access easements: Easements allowing public access for recreation or conservation can significantly impact value by limiting privacy and exclusive use
• Conservation easements: These can dramatically reduce value since they permanently restrict development, though they may provide tax benefits that offset the reduction

When buying property with significant easements, consider having an appraiser evaluate how the easements affect value. This information can support price negotiations and help you make informed decisions.

What Are Your Rights and Responsibilities with Easements?

Both easement holders and property owners have rights and obligations:

Rights of the Easement Holder

• Use the easement area for the specified purpose
• Access the easement area as reasonably necessary to exercise easement rights
• Make reasonable improvements necessary for the easement's use (like grading a road or installing utility poles)
• Prevent interference with the easement rights

Rights of the Property Owner (Servient Estate)

• Use the easement area in any way that doesn't interfere with the easement rights
• Demand the easement holder limit their use to what's reasonably necessary
• Require the easement holder to repair damage caused by exercising easement rights
• Deny uses that exceed the scope of the easement

Maintenance Responsibilities

Easement documents should specify who maintains the easement area, but when they don't, Utah law generally provides:

• For access easements, the benefiting party typically bears maintenance costs
• For utility easements, the utility company is responsible for maintaining their infrastructure
• For drainage easements, the property owner usually maintains the easement area but cannot block drainage

Shared access easements serving multiple properties should have written agreements specifying how maintenance costs are divided.

How Does Title Insurance Protect You from Easement Issues?

Title insurance provides important protections related to easements, though it's essential to understand what is and isn't covered:

What Title Insurance Covers

• Undisclosed easements: If an easement exists that wasn't revealed in the title commitment and you suffer a loss, title insurance covers you
• Incorrectly described easements: If an easement location or scope was misrepresented, causing you financial harm
• Invalid easements: If an easement listed on your title is later determined to be invalid, title insurance covers resulting losses
• Boundary disputes affecting easements: If a boundary error affects easement location

What Title Insurance Doesn't Cover

• Disclosed easements: Easements listed as exceptions in your title commitment are not covered—you accepted them when you purchased
• Maintenance disputes: Arguments about who should maintain an easement aren't covered
• Scope disputes: Disagreements about how an easement can be used aren't typically covered
• Future easements: Easements created after your purchase aren't covered by a policy issued at purchase

How to Maximize Easement Protection

To ensure you're fully protected regarding easements:

• Carefully review the title commitment and all easement documents before closing
• Get a survey to see exactly where easements are located
• Ask the title company to explain any easements you don't understand
• Consider purchasing enhanced title insurance coverage if available
• Walk the property looking for signs of use that might indicate unrecorded easements
• Address concerns before closing—once you close, disclosed easements are your responsibility

Prospect Title's experienced team helps Utah property buyers understand easements and their implications. We don't just list easements in the title commitment—we explain what they mean for your property and help you make informed decisions. Learn more about how title insurance protects your investment.

What Should You Do If You Have an Easement Dispute?

Easement disputes are common and can arise in various situations:

• The easement holder exceeds the scope of their rights
• You need to make improvements that might affect an easement
• There's disagreement about maintenance responsibilities
• Someone claims an easement exists but you have no record of it
• You want to terminate or relocate an easement

Steps to Resolve Easement Disputes

1. Review the easement document: Start by carefully reading the recorded easement to understand exactly what rights it grants
2. Communicate with the other party: Many disputes arise from misunderstandings and can be resolved through discussion
3. Document the situation: Take photos, keep records of communications, and document any damage or interference
4. Consult an attorney: Real estate attorneys experienced in easement law can advise you on your rights and options
5. Consider mediation: This can be faster and less expensive than litigation while achieving workable solutions
6. Litigation as a last resort: If other methods fail, you may need to file a lawsuit to establish rights or obtain an injunction

Easement litigation can be expensive and time-consuming. Whenever possible, working toward an agreement—even if it requires some compromise—is preferable to court battles that can last years and cost tens of thousands of dollars.