An appurtenant easement...

An appurtenant easement is a legal right that allows the owner of one piece of land to use a portion of another piece of land for a specific purpose, such as access to a road or a pathway. The key characteristic of an appurtenant easement is that it "runs with the land," meaning that it is tied to the property itself, rather than to the individual owner. When the property that benefits from the easement (known as the dominant tenement) is sold, the easement automatically transfers to the new owner. Similarly, if the property that the easement is granted across (the servient tenement) is sold, the easement continues to exist, making it a permanent interest in the land.

This permanence and the transferability of the easement with the property solidify its significance in real estate law. In contrast, temporary easements might only last for a specific period, a lease is an agreement for possession rather than a right to utilize property, and revocable easements can be terminated at the will of the owner, which does not apply to appurtenant easements. Therefore, the defining feature of an appurtenant easement is that it remains in effect as long as the properties involved remain in