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EASEMENTS OR
SERVITUDES
Category: Property, Ownership and Its Modifications

EASEMENTS OR
SERVITUDES
EASEMENTS IN GENERAL
EASEMENT DEFINED
Encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for
the benefit of a community or one or more
persons or for the benefit of another immovable
belonging to a different owner

DIFFERENT KINDS OF
EASEMENTS
Art. 613. 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. (530)

REAL EASEMENT DEFINED

An easement or servitude is an encumbrance
imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of
another immovable belonging to a different
owner.

Art. 614. Servitudes may also be

established for the benefit of a community,
or of one or more persons to whom the
encumbered estate does not belong. (531)

CHARACTERISTICS OF EASEMENT
1. A real right—action in rem is possible against
the possessor of the servient estate
2. Imposable only on another’s property
3. It is a jus in re aliena—real right that may be
alienated although the naked ownership is
maintained
4. It is a limitation or encumbrance on the servient
estate for another’s benefit
a. It is essential that there be benefit
b. It is not essential that the benefit be exercised
c. It is not essential for the benefit to be very
great
d. The benefit shouldn’t be so great as to
completely absorb or impair the usefulness of the
servient estate, for then, this would not be merely
an encumbrance but the cancellation of the rights
of the servient estate
e. The benefit or utility goes to the dominant
estate
f. The exercise is naturally restricted by the
needs of the dominant estate or of its owner
g. Easements being an abnormal restriction on
the ownership are not presumed but may be
imposed by law
5. There is inherence
6. It is indivisible
7. It is intransmissible
8. It is perpetual

NO EASEMENT ON PERSONAL
PROPERTY
There can be no easement on personal
property; only on immovables

Art. 615. Easements may be continuous or

discontinuous, apparent or nonapparent.
Continuous easements are those the use of
which is or may be incessant, without the
intervention of any act of man.
Discontinuous easements are those which
are used at intervals and depend upon the
acts of man. Apparent easements are those
which are made known and are continually
kept in view by external signs that reveal
the use and enjoyment of the same.
Nonapparent easements are those which
show no external indication of their
existence. (532)

Art. 616. Easements are also positive or

negative. A positive easement is one which
imposes upon the owner of the servient
estate the obligation of allowing something
to be done or of doing it himself, and a
negative easement, that which prohibits
the owner of the servient estate from doing
something which he could lawfully do if the
easement did not exist. (533)

CLASSIFICATION OF EASEMENTS
1. According to party given the benefit
a. Real easement—for the benefit of another
immovable belonging to a different owner
b. Personal easement—for the benefit of one or
more persons or of a community
2. According to the manner they are exercised
a. Continuous easements
b. Discontinuous easements
3. According to whether or not their existence is
indicated
a. Apparent easement
b. Non-apparent easement
4. According to the purpose of the easement or
the nature of the limitation
a. Positive easement
b. Negative easement

Art. 617. Easements are inseparable from

the estate to which they actively or
passively belong. (534)

INSEPARABILITY OF EASEMENTS
Independently of the immovable to which they
are attached, easements don’t exist

CONSEQUENCES OF
INSEPARABILITY
1. Easements cannot be sold or donated or
mortgaged independently of the real property to
which they may be attached
2. Registration of the dominant estate under
Torrens system without the registration of the
voluntary easements in its favor doesn’t
extinguish the easements but the registration of
the servient estate without the registration of the
easements burdening it extinguishes the
voluntary easements.
a. Note—actual knowledge of third persons is
equivalent to registration in that if they have
actual knowledge of the
existence of the easement, they are bound by the
same, even though no registration has been made

PROVISION OF THE LAND

REGISTRATION LAW
Easements shall continue to subsist and shall
be held to pass with the title of ownership until
rescinded or extinguished by virtue of the
registration of the servient estate or in any other
manner Art. 618. Easements are indivisible. If the
servient estate is divided between two or more
persons, the easement is not modified, and each
of them must bear it on the part which
corresponds to him. If it is the dominant estate
that is divided between two or more persons,
each of them may use the easement in its entirety,
without changing the place of its use, or making it
more burdensome in any other way. (535)

INDIVISIBILITY OF EASEMENTS
Partition or division of an estate doesn’t divide
the easement, which continues to be complete in
that each of the dominant estates can exercise the
whole easement over each of the servient estate
but only on the part corresponding to each of
them

Art. 619. Easements are established either

by law or by the will of the owners. The
former are called legal and the latter
voluntary easements. (536)

JUDICIAL EASEMENTS
When the court says that an easement exists, it
is not creating one; it merely declares the
existence of an easement created either by law or
by the parties or testator

MODES OF ACQUIRING
EASEMENTS
Art. 620. Continuous and apparent
easements are acquired either by virtue of
a title or by prescription of ten years.
(537a)

HOW EASEMENTS ARE ACQUIRED

1. If continuous and apparent
a. By title
b. By prescription—ten years
2. If discontinuous and apparent—only by title
3. If continuous and non-apparent—only by title
4. If discontinuous and non-apparent—only by
title

MEANING OF TITLE
1. Title here doesn’t necessarily mean document
2. It means a juridical act or law sufficient to
create the encumbrance

Art. 621. In order to acquire by prescription the

easements referred to in the preceding article, the
time of possession shall be computed thus: in
positive easements, from the day on which the
owner of the dominant estate, or the person who
may have made use of the easement, commenced
to exercise it upon the servient estate; and in
negative easements, from the day on which the
owner of the dominant estate forbade, by an
instrument acknowledged before a notary public,
the owner of the servient estate, from executing
an act which would be lawful without the
easement. (538a)

APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE OF
EASEMENTS ACQUIRABLE BY
PRESCRIPTION: RULES
1. If the easement is positive, begin counting the
period from the day the dominant estate began to
exercise it
2. If the easement is negative, begin counting
from the time of notarial prohibition was made on
the servient estate
3. The notarial prohibition should be given by the
owner of the dominant estate

Art. 622. Continuous nonapparent easements,

and discontinuous ones, whether apparent or not,
may be acquired only by virtue of a title. (539)

EASEMENTS THAT MAY BE

ACQUIRED ONLY BY TITLE
1. Continuous non-apparent easements
2. Discontinuous apparent easements
3. Discontinuous non-apparent easements

EASEMENT OF AQUEDUCT
The easement of aqueduct is considered
continuous and apparent and may therefore be
acquired by prescription

Art. 623. The absence of a document or

proof showing the origin of an easement
which cannot be acquired by prescription
may be cured by a deed of recognition by
the owner of the servient estate or by a
final judgment. (540a)

APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE
1. Continuous non-apparent
2. Discontinuous easements

HOW PROOF MAY BE GIVEN OF

THE EXISTENCE OF THE
EASEMENTS
1. By deed of recognition by the servient owner
2. Final judgment

Art. 624. The existence of an apparent sign of

easement between two estates, established or
maintained by the owner of both, shall be
considered, should either of them be alienated, as
a title in order that the easement may continue
actively and passively, unless, at the time the
ownership of the two estates is divided, the
contrary should be provided in the title of
conveyance of either of them, or the sign
aforesaid should be removed before the
execution of the deed. This provision shall also
apply in case of the division of a thing owned in
common by two or more persons. (541a)

APPARENT SIGNS OF EASEMENT

THAT APPARENTLY EXISTS
1. Originally no true easement exists here because
there is only one owner
2. The article speaks of apparent visible
easements
3. Outward indication
4. It is not essential that there be apparent sign
between the two estates; it is important that there
is an apparent sign that the easement exists
between the two estates
N.B: Immaterial period of counting prescription.

RULES
1. Before the alienation, there is no true easement
2. After alienation
a. There arises an easement if the sign continues
to remain there unless there is a contrary
agreement
b. There is no easement if the sign is removed or
if there is an agreement to this effect

APPLICABILITY OF ARTICLE
1. Whether only one or both estates is alienated
2. Even if there be only one estate but there are
two portions thereof, as long as later on there is a
division of the ownership of the said portion
3. Even in the case of division of common
property, though this is not an alienation

WHEN ARTICLE DOESN’T APPLY

Doesn’t apply in case both estates or both
portions are alienated to the same owner, for then
there would be no true easement unless there is a
further alienation, this time, to different owners

Art. 625. Upon the establishment of an

easement, all the rights necessary for its
use are considered granted. (542)

GRANT OF NECESSARY RIGHTS

FOR THE USE OF THE EASEMENT
1. Unless the necessary rights are also granted,
the right to the easement itself is rendered
nugatory
2. Necessary rights include repair, maintenance,
accessory easements, such as the right of way if
the easement is for the
drawing of water
3. Termination of the principal easement
necessarily ends all the secondary or accessory
easements

Art. 626. The owner of the dominant estate cannot

use the easement except for the benefit of the
immovable originally
contemplated. Neither can he exercise the
easement in any other manner than that
previously established. (n)

USE OF THE EASEMENT FOR BENEFIT

OF THE IMMOVABLE ORIGINALLY
CONTEMPLATED RIGHTS AND
OBLIGATIONS OF THE OWNERS OF THE
DOMINANT AND SERVIENT ESTATES
Art. 627. The owner of the dominant estate
may make, at his own expense, on the
servient state any works necessary for the
use and preservation of the servitude, but
without altering it or rendering it more
burdensome. For this purpose he shall
notify the owner of the servient estate, and
shall choose the most convenient time and
manner so as to cause the least
inconvenience to the owner of the servient
estate. (543a)

Art. 628. Should there be several dominant

estates, the owners of all of them shall be
obliged to contribute to the expenses
referred to in the preceding article, in
proportion to the benefits which each may
derive from the work. Any one who does
not wish to contribute may exempt himself
by renouncing the easement for the benefit
of the others.

If the owner of the servient estate should

make use of the easement in any manner
whatsoever, he shall also be obliged to
contribute to the expenses in the
proportion stated, saving an agreement to
the contrary. (544)

Art. 629. The owner of the servient estate

cannot impair, in any manner whatsoever,
the use of the servitude. Nevertheless, if
by reason of the place originally assigned,
or of the manner established for the use of
the easement, the same should become
very inconvenient to the owner of the
servient estate, or should prevent him from
making any important works, repairs or
improvements thereon, it may be changed
at his expense, provided he offers another
place or manner equally convenient and in
such a way that no injury is caused thereby
to the owner of the dominant estate or to
those who may have a right to the use of
the easement. (545)

Art. 630. The owner of the servient estate

retains the ownership of the portion on
which the easement is established, and
may use the same in such a manner as not
to affect the exercise of the easement. (n)

RIGHTS OF THE DOMINANT

ESTATE
1. To exercise the easement and all necessary
rights for its use including accessory easement
2. To make on the servient estate all works
necessary the use and preservation of the
servitude but—
a. This must be at his own expense
b. He must notify the servient owner
c. Select convenient time and manner
d. He must not alter the easement nor render it
more burdensome
3. To ask for mandatory injunction to prevent
impairment or obstruction in the exercise of the
easement as when the owner of the servient
estate obstructs the right of way by building a wall
or fence
4. To renounce totally the easement if he desires
exemption ffrom contribution to expenses

OBLIGATIONS OF THE DOMINANT

ESTATE
1. He cannot alter the easement
2. He cannot make it more burdensome
a. Thus he cannot use the easement except for
movable originally contemplated
b. In the easement of right of way, he cannot
increase the agreed width of the path nor deposit
soil or materials
outside of the boundaries agreed upon
3. If there be several dominant estates, each must
contribute to necessary repairs and expenses in
proportion to the benefits received by each estate

RIGHTS OF THE SERVIENT

ESTATE
1. To retain ownership and possession of the
portion of his land affected by the easement
2. To make use of the easement, unless deprived
by stipulation provided that the exercise of the
easement isn’t adversely affected and provided
further that he contributes to the expenses in
proportion to the benefits received, unless there
is contrary stipulation
3. To change the location of a very inconvenient
easement provided that an equally convenient
substitute is made, without injury to the
dominant estate

OBLIGATIONS OF THE SERVIENT

ESTATE
1. He cannot impair the use of the easement
2. He must contribute to the expenses in case he
uses the easement, unless there is contrary
stipulation
3. In case of impairment, to restore conditions to
the status quo at his expense plus damages

4. To pay for the damages incurred for the

changes of location or form of the easement

MODES OF EXTINGUISHMENT OF
EASEMENTS
Art. 631. Easements are extinguished:
(1) By merger in the same person of the
ownership of the dominant and servient
estates;
(2) 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;
(3) 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;
(4) By the expiration of the term or the
fulfillment of the condition, if the easement
is temporary or conditional;
(5) By the renunciation of the owner of the
dominant estate;
(6) By the redemption agreed upon
between the owners of the dominant and
servient estates. (546a)

Art. 632. The form or manner of using the

easement may prescribe as the easement
itself, and in the same way. (547a)

PRESCRIPTION RE VOLUNTARY
EASEMENTS
1. The easement may itself prescribe
2. The form or manner of using may also prescribe
in the same manner as the easement itself

PRESCRIPTION LEGAL
EASEMENTS
1. Some legal easements don’t prescribe
2. But some legal easement do prescribe, as in the
case of the servitude of natural drainage

Art. 633. 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.
(548)

EFFECT ON PRESCRIPTION OF
USE BY ONE CO-OWNER OF THE
DOMINANT ESTATE
The use benefits the other co-owners, hence,
there will be no prescription even with respect to
their own shares

REASON FOR THIS ARTICLE

The easement is indivisible

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