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There are two easements across two parcels of my property. Both are 50-foot wide, adjacent, appurtenant, easements that are used by the individual who originally sold our property to the people we purchased it from. He uses the easements to have someone else mow the undeveloped parcel north of us. That parcel is adjacent to, and accessible from, the highway that borders it. He does not need the easements to access it.

Would it be possible to have the easements removed without his consent?

Some extra details I thought might be helpful are below.

Both easements are in a revocable living trust.

The description of the easements, found in the corrective trustees deed, is extremely vague as far as what it's purpose is. Other than describing where the easements are, the document just says, "And reserving for the party of the first part, an easement for ingress and egress access and utilities over and across said parcel 2 to benefit the real estate owned by the party of the first part immediately to the north of parcel 1." The first easement mentioned is only described in terms of its location.

There are no visible utility lines on the easements. I assume there may be underground utilities, but the language, "over and across", seems like it may not include that.

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    It is not clear what the situation is. Which plots of lands are there, who owns them, how are the easements situated on them, …? A map might help. In addition, you say they are “not necessary”, but give little explanation as to why. Are they still actually used or not, …?
    – AsheraH
    Jan 23 at 5:43
  • @AsheraHasher I've tried to rewrite it to be clearer.
    – LuminousNutria
    Jan 23 at 5:58
  • It is being used--you said someone uses it to mow the parcel. It's possible that it might be cheaper to get utility access via the easements than via the highway access (someday).
    – mkennedy
    Jan 23 at 15:14
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    Are you certain that the piece of land north of you can be legally accessed from the highway? Just because a piece of land borders a road doesn't mean that it's legal to use that road for regular access to the land. As an extreme example, consider that you might own a piece of land which borders an "Interstate Highway" - it's most definitely not legal for you to build your driveway directly onto that road.
    – brhans
    Jan 23 at 17:59

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An easement cannot be extinguished unilaterally

Even if it is no longer used.

If you can get the agreement of the other party, then, yes, it can be extinguished. However, you have to remember that what your neighbour has is a property interest: people don’t just give away property - you’ll probably have to buy it.

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    Easements can be extinguished unilaterally by prescription, which is basically the easement analog to adverse possession, although this typically takes decades and can be harder to do for an easement than for simply ownership of land.
    – ohwilleke
    Jan 23 at 13:34

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