An easement appurtenant—also known as an appurtenant easement, an appendant easement, or a pure easement—is an easement created to benefit another tract of land, with the use of the easement being incident to the ownership of that other tract of land.
An easement appurtenant benefits one tract of land (the dominant estate or tenement) to the detriment or burden of the other tract of land (the servient estate or tenement).
Easements appurtenant are attached to the land (are said to “run with the land”) and are automatically transferred when either the dominant estate or the servient estate is sold or transferred to a new owner.
In Texas, an easement appurtenant is recognized as a type of property interest that allows the holder of the easement the right to use a portion of another's property for a specific purpose. This right is beneficial to the dominant estate and burdens the servient estate. Texas law acknowledges that easements appurtenant are tied to the land itself rather than to the individual owner, meaning they 'run with the land.' Consequently, when either the dominant or servient property is sold or transferred, the easement appurtenant automatically passes to the new owner. The creation, modification, and termination of easements appurtenant in Texas can be governed by written agreements, necessity, implication, or prescription, and they are subject to the statutes and case law that address property rights and real estate transactions in the state.
