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
Main structural support beam. A girder is made of steel, reinforced concrete, or timber. It is designed to support loads at different points along its length. ...
Market Analysis in the Real Estate Market is basically research done concerning specific properties in relation to the overall current climate of the real estate industry. A good ...
Interest a person pays before it is actually incurred. An example is a one year's interest that a borrower agrees to pay in advance to a bank on a mortgage. This rarely occurs. ...
Land zoned for industrial use including manufacturing, factory office and warehouse space, research and development. ...
Visible area that can be readily seen by outside traffic. This is particularly important for a commercial business. ...
(1) Occupancy rate at which rental income of a property pays for operating expenses and debt service, leaving no residual cash flow. (2) The level of sales of a real estate business where ...
Owner of land allowing another to use space under the ground, such as to install a sewer or gas line. ...
Putting a waterproofing substance on the exterior cement walls of the structure to prevent water from entering the interior of structure. The cracks in the walls are patched up. ...
A clearly stated notice that an owner or operator will not assume responsibility for an inherent risk. For example, at a parking garage, a large notice of nonresponsability clearly states ...
Have a question or comment?
We're here to help.