Opinion ID: 2179425
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Easement of Necessity Principles

Text: [3-5] ¶ 8. An easement is an interest that encumbers the land of another. See Ludke v. Egan, 87 Wis. 2d 221, 227, 274 N.W.2d 641 (1979). It is a liberty, privilege, or advantage in lands, without profit, and existing distinct from the ownership of the land. Schwab v. Timmons, 224 Wis. 2d 27, 35-36, 589 N.W.2d 1 (1999) (citation omitted). The creation of an easement gives rise to two distinct property interests: the dominant estate, that has the right to use the land of another, and the servient estate, that permits the exercise of that use. Id. at 36. ¶ 9. Easements may be provided by express grant of the owner of the servient estate or through court action when there is a dispute about the rights of each party. See Baurer v. Sokoloff, 254 Wis. 273, 276, 36 N.W.2d 61 (1949). An easement of necessity, the type of easement at issue here, is often sought when an owner of landlocked property wants public highway access and has been unable to obtain it from an adjoining landowner. See Ludke, 87 Wis. 2d at 226. ¶ 10. When deciding on a claim for an easement of necessity, courts employ land use principles similar to those employed in interpretations of conveyances of land. 28A C.J.S. Easements § 91 (1996). Therefore, interpretations relating to land that render any property useless are disfavored. See Sampson Invs. v. Jondex Corp., 176 Wis. 2d 55, 62, 499 N.W.2d 177 (1993) (concluding that `[a]lienations of land are, or ought to be, grave and deliberate transactions' (quoting Frank C. Schilling Co. v. Detry, 203 Wis. 109, 116, 233 N.W. 635 (1930)). One treatise has explained that: [a] conveyance that would otherwise deprive the land conveyed to the grantee, or land retained by the grantor, of rights necessary to reasonable enjoyment of the land implies the creation of a servitude granting or reserving such rights, unless the language or circumstances of the conveyance clearly indicate that the parties intended to deprive the property of those rights. Restatement (Third) of Prop.: Creation of Servitudes § 2.15 (2000). Those rights necessary to reasonable enjoyment of the land generally have included foot and vehicular access, although access for utilities is becoming increasingly common. Id. at cmt. a; see also Richards v. Land Star Group, Inc., 224 Wis. 2d 829, 838-39, 593 N.W.2d 103 (Ct. App. 1999).