Prescriptive Easements

Do you have a driveway, or even a small section of driveway, that crosses the property of another, that you use to access your home or other real estate? If so, you should make sure that you have a true legal right to access your property that way. This legal right can come in several different forms. One of which, is that you were deeded an easement for access when you bought the property. In many cases, that covers you, but in some instances, for one reason or another, there is a gap in the deeded easement or some other title defect that could be a problem for you. These problems most frequently arise in rural areas where, over time, there have been slight shifts in state roads, boundary lines, or simply the property has always been accessed that way and no one has ever questioned it. Sometimes it is a combination of those things. We have had a number of clients over the years who have dealt with access issues such as these. One option is to seek a court order establishing what the law calls a prescriptive easement. In it's most basic form it stands for the fact that a particular access over the land of another has been used for over 20 years or more and in a particular manner for that period. If you can convince the court that your use of the access qualifies, then you may be able to obtain an order allowing you [...]