What is required to establish an easement by prescription?

What is required to establish an easement by prescription?

• A. A written grant from the owner
• B. Public notice of the easement
• C. Payment of a fee to the owner
• D. Continuous, open, and hostile use for the statutory period

Answer: (D)

An easement by prescription comes from long, non-permissive use of someone else’s land. For this to work, the use must be continuous and open (visible to the owner and others) and adverse to the owner’s rights, lasting for the statutory period. No written agreement or payment is required, and public notice isn’t needed. The idea is that by using the land openly and without permission for the required time, a claim to an easement is established by operation of law. In New Jersey, that statutory period is typically 20 years. A practical example is a neighbor who uses a path across another’s land to reach a road every day, openly and without permission, for two decades; after that period, the neighbor can acquire a prescriptive easement. If permission is given or if the use is not continuous, the prescriptive claim wouldn’t arise.

An easement by prescription comes from long, non-permissive use of someone else’s land. For this to work, the use must be continuous and open (visible to the owner and others) and adverse to the owner’s rights, lasting for the statutory period. No written agreement or payment is required, and public notice isn’t needed. The idea is that by using the land openly and without permission for the required time, a claim to an easement is established by operation of law. In New Jersey, that statutory period is typically 20 years. A practical example is a neighbor who uses a path across another’s land to reach a road every day, openly and without permission, for two decades; after that period, the neighbor can acquire a prescriptive easement. If permission is given or if the use is not continuous, the prescriptive claim wouldn’t arise.