Opinion ID: 2679985
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Establishing the Easements

Text: [¶8] The trial court found that in 1943, when Ms. Parsons held all of the relevant properties, the merger doctrine extinguished the easements attached to the Farm Lot over the portions of Road A that abut Lots F, CC, and 21, and the portions of Road H that abut Lots B, B-1, and 1. The court also found that “[n]o later deeds revived the easements for the plaintiffs.” We do not reach the issue of 6 whether the merger doctrine extinguished the easements because we conclude that the codicil established the easements. [¶9] In 1956, when Ms. Parsons’s will took effect, a party could legally convey real property through the recording of a will or a codicil in the registry of deeds. See generally Williams v. Dearborn, 101 Me. 506, 64 A. 851 (1906) (permitting the transfer of real property through a codicil). Because such conveyances typically lack the clarity of a deed, since 1981 recorded “deeds of distribution” are used to confirm a transfer of real estate by inheritance or by will. Cowan & Scannell, Maine Real Estate Law and Practice § 24:1 at 949-50 (2d ed. 2007); see also 18-A M.R.S. § 3-907 (2012) (requiring the execution of a deed of distribution). [¶10] A written instrument does not establish an easement unless the instrument expressly creates the easement. Restatement (Third) of Prop.: Servitudes § 7.5 (2000) (discussing re-creation of an easement after termination). A will and codicil are interpreted within the four corners of the document, but the court “may use the context of the entire will to interpret specific sections.” In re Estate of Wilson, 2003 ME 92, ¶ 11, 828 A.2d 784. If the will is ambiguous, however, “[a] court may resort to extrinsic evidence.” Id. The codicil to Ms. Parsons’s will conveyed the Farm Lot “with all the appurtenances thereunto obtaining and subject to all of the residential restrictions and limitations, set forth 7 in detail in deeds of record in the chain of title.” It is undisputed that the portion of the chain of title consisting of the 1915 Plan and deeds recorded prior to 1943 established easements over Roads A and H for the Farm Lot’s benefit. Therefore, these easements appurtenant are unambiguously “set forth . . . in deeds of record in the chain of title” and are established by the codicil.