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New Supreme Court Opinion Adopts Rule For Extinguishing An Easement

On Behalf of | Nov 1, 2011 | Real Estate Law

On September 20, 2011, the New Hampshire Supreme Court in the case of Boissy v. Chevion adopted a new rule with regard to when an easement can be extinguished. An easement allows the owner of one parcel of land to come onto another parcel of land to do a specific thing. For example, an easement can be to cross over another piece of land to access a road or to go onto a piece of land to access a well. In Chevion, the Supreme Court held that when the purpose of an easement becomes impossible to fulfill, the easement terminates. Under the facts of that particular case, the defendants were given an easement to draw water from a particular well located on the plaintiff’s property. The well had been abandoned for 28 years and could not be located. Under those facts, the trial court held, and the Supreme Court affirmed, that the easement could not be accomplished and was therefore extinguished.

Andrew J. Piela is a Director at Hamblett & Kerrigan, P.A. Mr. Piela concentrates his practice in civil litigation, family law, probate and land use litigation. You can reach Attorney Piela by e-mail at [email protected].

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