NAVIGATING PROPERTY EASEMENTS
Property ownership often involves shared spaces—think driveways, access paths, or utility lines crossing your land. These arrangements, often referred to as easements, grant a legal right for one party to use someone else’s property for a specific purpose. Poorly drafted and outdated easements can lead to disputes, limit property use, and complicate future sales.
I work with residential, rural, and commercial property owners to evaluate, modify, and create easements to clarify each party’s rights in order to prevent future conflicts. Here are some of the things I do to help my clients navigate the world of easements.
PRE-PURCHASE EVALUATION
Before acquiring a property, it’s crucial to identify existing easements that might impact its use or value. I help my clients uncover existing easements and assess whether it affects their decision to purchase the property. I also help my clients address this issue in their purchase agreement so they have the power to walk away if an unfavorable easement is identified.
MODIFY EASEMENTS
If an existing easement doesn’t fit your needs or is silent on important issues, you will need to modify it. While this can be done anytime, addressing these issues before you finalize a property purchase often makes the process smoother and simpler. I help my clients negotiate and formalize modifications to existing easements.
CREATE EASEMENTS
When your property use requires access or rights across another’s land—such as a new driveway or shared well access—a formal, written easement agreement is essential. I prepare these agreements for my clients which helps them protect their long-term rights and avoid future disputes.
TERMINATE EASEMENTS
If an easement on your property (or one benefiting you) is no longer needed or desired, you might be able to terminate it. This process can reclaim property rights and eliminate outdated obligations. As with modifications, it is advantageous to terminate an easement prior to finalizing your property purchase. I help my clients determine if they can terminate an easement and the necessary legal steps to remove it.
CONTACT US
Small Batch Law, LLC PO Box 620377, Middleton, WI 53562 608.575.9930 •
Hours: 9a-4p Monday-Thursday; 9a-Noon Friday
GETTING STARTED
When you contact Small Batch Law, I will need your name, contact info and business name, the names of other owners in your business, the identities of other parties involved, a brief description of your project and any deadlines. This information will help me determine if I can assist you. You should avoid sending me any private, sensitive or confidential information because our initial exchange does not create an attorney-client relationship between us. If I can assist, I will send you an engagement letter describing what services I will provide and the associated fee. Our work together after this point will be as attorney and client.