TITLE VII EASEMENTS OF SERVITUDES

Chapter 1 EASEMENTS IN GENERAL

EASEMENTS (or Servitude)

- Encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of a community or one or more persons (personal
easement) or for a benefit of another immovable belonging to a different owner (real or predial easement).
- (Sanchez Roman) real right, constituted on anothers property, corporeal, and immovable whereby the owner of
the latter must refrain from doing or allowing somebody else to do something on his property, for the benefit of
another person or tenement.
EASEMENT SERVITUDE
- Used in common law countries - Used in civil law countries
- Under Common Law, it only a one form of - Broader
servitude (servitus) - May refer to a predial or real or to a personal
- ALWAYS predial or real (in favor of another easement
realty)
LEASE EASEMENT
- Real right ONLY when it is registered or when - ALWAYS a real right (real or personal easement)
the lease, of real property, exceeds 1 year - There is rightful limited use WITHOUT
- There is rightful and limited use and possession ownership
WITHOUT ownership - Can refer ONLY to IMMOVABLES

- Effect of Acknowledgement: admission that the property belongs to another

Different Kinds of Easements

ARTICLE. 613 Real Easement Defined

REAL EASEMENT
- Encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of another immovable belonging to a different owner.

DOMINANT STATE
- immovable in favor of which the easement is established

SERVIENT STATE
- immovable subject to the to the dominant state
- which has an easement or other use imposed upon it in favor of the dominant state

ARTICLE 614 Personal Easement Defined

PERSONAL EASEMENT
- established for the benefit of a community, or of one or more persons to whom the encumbered estate does not
belong
PERSONAL EASEMENT USUFRUCT
- CANNOT be alienated - GENERALLY, can be alienated
- The use is SPECIFICALLY stated - Use has a broader scope, and generally
comprehends ALL the possible uses of the thing
CHARACTERISTICS OF EASEMENT
1. REAL RIGHT, hence and action in rem is possible against the possessor of the servient state
2. Imposable ONLY on ANOTHERS property (no true easement on ones OWN property; merger in the same
person of the ownership of the dominant and servient estate extinguishes the easement)
3. It is jus in re aliena or a real right that may be alienated although the naked ownership is maintained
4. LIMITATION or ENCUMBRANCE on the servient state for anothers benefit
a. Essential that there be a benefit
b. NOT essential that the benefit be exercised, important is it CAN be exercised
c. Not essential that the benefit to be very great
d. Benefit should not be so great as to completely absorb or impair the usefulness of the servient estate
e. Exercise is naturally restricted by the needs of the dominant estate
f. NOT PRESUMED, but may be imposed by LAW
g. INHERENCE or INSEPARABILITY from the estate to which it belongs
h. Indivisible
i. Intransmissible
j. Perpetual
Note: No easement on PERSONAL property

ARTICLE 615 Certain Kinds of Easements

1. Continuous easements those the use of which is or may be incessant, without the intervention of any act of
man.
2. Discontinuous easements those which are used at intervals and depend upon the acts of man.
3. Apparent easements those which are made known and are continually kept in view by external signs that
reveal the use and enjoyment of the same.
4. Non-apparent easements those which show no external indication of their existence.

ARTICLE 616 Classification of Easements

1. According to Party given the Benefit (Real or Personal)
2. According to the Manner they are exercised (Continuous or Discontinuous)
3. According to Whether their Existence is indicated (Apparent or Non-apparent)
4. According to the Purpose of the Easement or the Nature of the Limitation (Positive or Negative)
a. Positive owner of the servient estate is obliged to:
i. Allow something to be done on his property (servitus patendo)
ii. To do it himself (servitus in faciendo)
- SUFFERANCE or INTRUSION or SERVICE because something is being done on the
servient state
b. Negative owner of the servient property IS PROHIBITED to do something which he could lawfully do
were it not for the existence of the easement
- Servitudes of ABSTENTION or LIMITATION or RESTRICTION
5. According to the Right Given
a. Right to partially use the servient state
b. Right to get specific materials or objects from the servient state
c. Right to participate in ownership
d. Right to impede or prevent the neighboring estate from performing a specific act of ownership
e.g. easement of intermediate distances as when the servient estate cannot plant trees without
observing certain distances
6. According to the Source or Origin and Establishment of the Easement
a. Voluntary - constituted by will or agreement of the parties or by a testator
b. Mixed created partly by agreement and partly by the law
 c. Legal constituted by law for public use or for private interest

ARTICLE 617 Inseparability of Easements

Inseparable independently of the immovable to which they are attached, easements do not exist

Consequences of Inseparability
a. Easements cannot be sold or donated or mortgaged independently of the real property wo which they are
attached, i.e., when an easement is granted, it refers to a particular parcel of land
b. Registration of the dominant estate under the Torrens system without the registration of the