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This article was originally published on June 1, 2022 and has been updated to reflect recent legal developments.
The following post does not create a lawyer-client relationship between Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices (or any of its lawyers) and the reader. It is still best for you to engage the services of a lawyer or you may directly contact and consult Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices to address your specific legal concerns, if there is any.
Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
The easement of right of way, while necessary to ensure access to isolated properties, is not perpetual. It may be extinguished when the need for such easement ceases, particularly when adequate access to a public road is established. However, such extinguishment depends on the conditions set by law and, in certain cases, upon the demand of the servient estate owner.
An easement or servitude is an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of another immovable belonging to a different owner. The immovable in favor of which the easement is established is called the dominant estate; that which is subject thereto, the servient estate. (Article 613, Civil Code)
Article 619 of the Civil Code provides that easements are established either by law or by the will of the owner. The former are called legal, and the latter, voluntary easements.
Legal easements are imposed by law have for their object either public use or the interest of private persons. (Article 634, Civil Code)
General Modes of Extinguishment
Under Article 631 of the Civil Code, easements are extinguished:
- By merger in the same person of the ownership of the dominant and servient estates;
- By nonuser for ten years; with respect to discontinuous easements, this period shall be computed from the day on which they ceased to be used; and, with respect to continuous easements, from the day on which an act contrary to the same took place;
- When either or both of the estates fall into such condition that the easement cannot be used; but it shall revive if the subsequent condition of the estates or either of them should again permit its use, unless when the use becomes possible, sufficient time for prescription has elapsed, in accordance with the provisions of the preceding number;
- By the expiration of the term or the fulfillment of the condition, if the easement is temporary or conditional;
- By the renunciation of the owner of the dominant estate;
- By the redemption agreed upon between the owners of the dominant and servient estates.
In addition, Article 632 of the Civil Code provides that the form or manner of using the easement may prescribe as the easement itself, and in the same way.
Further, Article 633 states that if the dominant estate belongs to several persons in common, the use of the easement by any one of them prevents prescription with respect to the others.
Extinguish of the Easement of Right of Way
A specific rule applies to the legal easement of right of way.
Under Article 655 of the Civil Code:
If the right of way granted to a surrounded estate ceases to be necessary because its owner has joined it to another abutting on a public road, the owner of the servient estate may demand that the easement be extinguished, returning what he may have received by way of indemnity.
The interest on the indemnity shall be deemed to be in payment of rent for the use of the easement.
The same rule shall be applied in case a new road is opened giving access to the isolated estate.
In both cases, the public highway must substantially meet the needs of the dominant estate in order that the easement may be extinguished.
From this provision, the easement of right of way may be extinguished in the following cases:
- When a new road is opened providing access to the dominant estate;
- When the dominant estate is joined to another property belonging to the same owner that already abuts a public road.
However, the new access must be adequate and convenient.
Conclusion
The easement of right of way, while necessary to ensure access to isolated properties, is not perpetual. It may be extinguished when the need for such easement ceases, particularly when adequate access to a public road is established. However, such extinguishment depends on the conditions set by law and, in certain cases, upon the demand of the servient estate owner.
Related Articles:
- WHAT IS EASEMENT?
- How Are Easements Acquired?
- EASEMENT OF LIGHT AND VIEW
- EASEMENT OF RIGHT OF WAY
- Amendments in the Right-of-Way Act
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Alburo Alburo and Associates Law Offices specializes in business law and labor law consulting. For inquiries regarding legal services, you may reach us at info@alburolaw.com, or dial us at (02)7745-4391/ 09175772207/ 09778050020.
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