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Simple English definitions for legal terms
servient tenement
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A quick definition of servient tenement:
A servient tenement is a piece of land that has to allow another piece of land (called the dominant estate) to use it in a certain way. This is called an easement. The owner of the servient tenement cannot stop the owner of the dominant estate from using the easement. The most common type of easement is for access, which means the dominant estate has the right to use a path or road on the servient tenement to get to their own property. Servient tenement can also be called servient property, servient estate, or lower estate.
A more thorough explanation:
Definition: A servient tenement is a piece of land that is subject to an easement, which benefits another piece of land. An easement is a right or privilege that the owner of one piece of land (called the dominant estate) has over another piece of land (called the servient tenement). The owner of the servient tenement is obligated not to interfere with that right or privilege.
For example, if a person owns a piece of land that is surrounded by other properties, they may need to cross one of those properties to access their own. In this case, the property they need to cross is the servient tenement, and the right to cross it is the easement.
Another example of a servient tenement is a property that has a utility easement. This means that the utility company has the right to access the property to maintain or repair their equipment, even though they do not own the property.
These examples illustrate how a servient tenement is a piece of land that is subject to an easement, which benefits another piece of land. The owner of the servient tenement must allow the owner of the dominant estate to exercise their right or privilege without interference.