Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) Practice Exam

Under which condition is a road easement extinguished?

1. The servient tenement is sold to another

2. When the dominant and servient tenement is under one ownership

3. The easement is not actively in use

4. A fence is constructed across the easement

The correct answer is: When the dominant and servient tenement is under one ownership

An easement is a legal right to use another person's land for a specific purpose, and it typically involves a dominant tenement (the property benefiting from the easement) and a servient tenement (the property burdened by the easement). The correct condition under which a road easement is extinguished is when both the dominant and servient tenements come under the same ownership. When one party owns both pieces of property, the easement is no longer necessary because the landowner has complete control over the entire area. With the same individual owning both properties, the rights associated with the easement effectively dissolve since there is no longer any need to grant permission to oneself to cross or use the land. This principle is rooted in the idea that easements are meant to clarify property rights between separate owners; merging the ownership eliminates the need for an easement, as the owner can now freely access or utilize their entire property. The other choices do not effectively extinguish an easement. Selling the servient tenement does not affect the easement itself, as the new owner would still have to recognize it. The idea that an easement is extinguished simply due to inactivity isn't accurate either, as most easements remain in place regardless