Which statement is a characteristic of an easement?

• A. It grants exclusive possession to the easement holder.
• B. It requires the servient owner to spend money.
• C. It must be sufficiently definite.
• D. It creates a right that benefits a person rather than the land.

Answer: (C)

An easement is a right that benefits one piece of land (the dominant tenement) and runs over another person’s land (the servient tenement). It is not possession of the land itself, and it does not give the easement holder exclusive use of the land. A key test is that the right must be sufficiently definite in its description: you have to be able to identify exactly what land is affected, what the allowed use is, and where it applies. If the right is vague or indefinite, it cannot be the subject of an easement because certainty is essential for a right over land and for it to be capable of grant or creation. This definitional requirement comes from the idea that an easement must be capable of forming the subject matter of a grant and must accommodate the dominant tenement, not amount to possession. Maintenance or financial obligations on the servient owner are not what define an easement, and the right is for the benefit of the land rather than personal to the individual holder.