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
Heating system generating heat through radiation as opposed to a convection heating system. For example, baseboard heating is a radiant heating system where the heat from circulating hot ...
Lumber of no more than 8 inches wide and 2 inches thick. ...
Latin term meaning let the buyer beware. The buyer purchases at his or her risk, in the absence of fraud. This does not obligate the seller to volunteer information. However, legal statutes ...
A line on a map or drawing showing equal ground elevation points. See also contour map. ...
Used to compute the tax on a specified taxable income. The marginal tax rate usually increases as the taxable income rises. ...
Written acknowledgment that money has been paid by someone as a deposit into an account or for the purchase of property or services. Examples are a receipt given by the bank for a deposit ...
Portion of a construction loan withheld by a lender from a contractor until all construction work is satisfactorily completed or sufficient space is rented in a floor loan. The holdback ...
Said of property that is bought subject to the existing loan against it. ...
"Same as term bridge loan: Short-term loan that is made in anticipation of permanent longer term loans. The interest rate on such a loan is usually higher than on longer term loans. An ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.