Easements Attorney in Annapolis

Types of Easements Recognized Under Maryland Law

Maryland recognizes several distinct ways an easement can arise. Understanding which type applies to your situation shapes how the right is established, challenged, or defended.

Express Easements

An express easement is created in writing, typically in a deed or recorded plat, and signed by the grantor. Under Maryland’s Statute of Frauds (Real Property §5-103), any grant of an interest in land must be in writing. Express easements are the clearest form: their terms, scope, and location are stated in the document itself, and courts interpret them based on that language.

Implied Easements

An implied easement arises from the circumstances of a property transfer rather than explicit written language. When a parcel is subdivided and a historically used pathway or feature serves the newly separated lot, a court may find that an easement was implied by the nature of the transfer, even without written documentation.

Easement by Necessity

When a parcel is landlocked and has no access to a public road, Maryland courts recognize an easement by necessity. The owner of the landlocked parcel may have a legal right of access across an adjoining parcel, rooted in the principle that property must be capable of reasonable use and enjoyment.

Prescriptive Easements

A prescriptive easement is established through use rather than agreement. In Maryland, a person who uses another’s land openly, continuously, and without permission for 20 years may claim a legal right to continue that use. One important limit: a permissive use can never ripen into a prescriptive right. If the landowner granted permission, that permission defeats any prescription claim regardless of how long the use continued. Maryland also applies a woodlands exception, under which courts presume that use of unenclosed woodland or wild land was permissive, placing the burden on the person claiming prescription to prove otherwise.

Appurtenant Easements & Easements in Gross

Easements are also classified by who benefits. An appurtenant easement is tied to a parcel and passes with the land through ownership changes. The parcel that benefits is called the dominant estate; the parcel burdened by the easement is the servient estate. An easement in gross, by contrast, benefits a person or entity rather than a parcel, as is typical with utility easements.

How Easements Are Created & Recorded in Maryland

Express easements are typically recorded with the county land records office. Recordation provides public notice and protects the easement holder against future buyers who might otherwise claim they had no knowledge of the right. An express easement should describe the location, purpose, permitted scope, any time limit, and which party bears maintenance responsibility.

Failing to record doesn’t necessarily extinguish an implied or prescriptive right, but it complicates enforcement against subsequent purchasers. This is why title searches conducted during a real estate transaction should identify existing easements and their terms. An easement missed in due diligence can become a significant post-closing dispute.

Easements can also end. Termination occurs through merger when dominant and servient parcels come under common ownership, expiration of a stated term, abandonment shown by clear intent plus non-use or physical obstruction, or by court order.

Common Easement Disputes in Annapolis & Anne Arundel County

Most easement disputes follow recognizable patterns. A neighbor obstructs an established right-of-way. A property owner claims decades of use have created a prescriptive easement. Two parties disagree about whether an existing easement permits vehicle traffic, expanded use, or a new structure near the corridor. Maintenance responsibilities go unaddressed until something breaks.

In Maryland, disputes involving rights of way, boundaries, and easement validity are decided in the Circuit Court for the county where the property is located. Courts examine the original deed language, recorded plats, historical use, and applicable legal standards. Resolution options range from negotiated written agreements between neighbors to injunctive relief requiring or prohibiting specific uses, to damages for interference with an established easement.

In the Annapolis area, shared driveways, paper roads (paths shown on historic plats but never fully developed), waterfront access strips, and utility corridors are among the most frequently disputed easement types. Properties near the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries, and Annapolis Harbor introduce additional considerations around riparian rights, shared docks, and public access corridors along the water.