Opinion ID: 1255000
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: butler springs easement

Text: In construing an easement in a particular case, the instrument granting the easement is to be interpreted in connection with the intention of the parties, and the circumstances in existence at the time the easement was granted and utilized. Quinn v. Stone, 75 Idaho 243, 270 P.2d 825 (1954). The trial court in this case determined that the easement reserved in the 1956 Wake-Hess contract was appurtenant in nature, with a dominant estate in the cattle ranch and a servient estate in the farm, and that the easement had consequently passed with the dominant estate upon each transfer of title. The evidence fully supports that interpretation. The language of the reservation clause in the contract, as well as the established pattern of use of the Butler Springs area, indicate a clear intention by the parties that the easement be for the benefit of the cattle ranch. There is no showing that the parties intended it to be a mere personal right. The definitions of appurtenant and in gross further make it clear that the easement is appurtenant. The primary distinction between an easement in gross and an easement appurtenant is that in the latter there is, and in the former there is not, a dominant estate to which the easement is attached. West v. Smith, 95 Idaho 550, 511 P.2d 1326 (1973). An easement in gross is merely a personal interest in the land of another, id.; whereas an easement appurtenant is an interest which is annexed to the possession of the dominant tenement and passes with it. 3, Powell on Real Property § 418, at 34-216 (1981). An appurtenant easement must bear some relation to the use of the dominant estate and is incapable of existence separate from it; any attempted severance from the dominant estate must fail. Id., at 34-217. The easement in the Butler Springs area is a beneficial and useful adjunct of the cattle ranch, and it would be of little use apart from the operations of the ranch. Moreover, in case of doubt, the weight of authority holds that the easement should be presumed appurtenant. 25 Am.Jur.2d Easements § 13 at p. 427. Accordingly, the decision of the trial court is affirmed as to the reserved easement.