Servient Estate
Definition of "Servient estate"
As the term “servient” comes from the root word “serve” and to serve means to perform a duty or a service for another entity, its meaning is easy to define. The term servient estate refers to an estate or property that is subject to being used for the benefit of another property. These benefits can come in the form of easements, rights of way, or rights of access. These rights are granted by law and are passed through purchasing contracts.
How does a Servient Estate work?
Upon purchasing a property, the contract can specify that there is an easement across the lot. This means that another property owner has the legal right to use part of the property to access their property. In this case, the property that grants access is the servient estate, while the property being granted access is the dominant estate.
When an easement is specified and granted in a contract, it gives the easement owner a nonpossessory interest in another property. The easement owner is the owner of the dominant estate, while the one required to allow the easement is the owner of the servient estate. There are different types of easements, from those that would enable the use of someone else’s land to those that limit the servient estate owners from blocking access to view or sunlight. Important to note that the servient estate owner can use the land or property in any way they want as long as they don’t limit the dominant estate owner’s easement on that land.
When purchasing a property, it is essential to know if it is a servient estate. For this, one should check for easements because if there is a dominant estate with only one access to the beach, which is by the servient house, it can impact the property’s price. Usually, suppose there is an easement on the property that makes it a servient estate. In that case, the price should be lowered because it may limit the owner’s privacy and give the dominant estate owner nonpossessory interest in the servient estate.
Popular Real Estate Terms
An administrator appointed by the government or the courts to administer the laws relating to a government agency or court. A commissioner is a part of a government or court commission. ...
Effective Age is the counterpart to a property’s Actual Age. While the former refers to the date a property was built, the latter is more of a sensorial depiction of its age; the age ...
Organizational governing group. Either an appointed or elected body overseeing the management of an organization and rendering advice on current issues. Members are legally responsible for ...
Also called real property. Anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, walls, fences, and shrubs, as well as the rights to own or use them. It is distinguished from ...
Materials that are inherently noncombustible, are widely used in constructing exterior surfaces and include brick, aluminum siding, cement, and asbestos shingles. ...
Commercial building having several different uses blending together. For example, retail shops are on the first floor, professional offices are on floors two through ten, and a restaurant ...
Capital appreciation financial goals set by a company or an individual over an extended period of time. Long-term capital goals establish a method for achieving the capital goal outcome ...
An apartment complex providing tenants access to a lawn area. ...
The portion of property income due to the ground value itself. It is used in a few states whereby an individual can own a structure and rent the ground to occupy a plot of land. ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.