Can a Driveway Easement Be Terminated?

Written by Candace Webb; Reviewed by Jann Seal, Licensed Real Estate Sales Associate. Former California Real Estate Sales Associate.; Updated December 20, 2018
You could terminate your easement if neighbors aren't helping maintain the driveway.


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Cars, dump trucks, heavy lifters and other construction equipment suddenly are crossing your property in order to access another. No permission has been given, especially a driveway easement which gives someone the right to drive over property he doesn't own for the purpose of accessing other property, typically property he does own. For example, his building site is only accessible by crossing a corner of your land. He needs a driveway easement that allows him to access his property by using your driveway. In essence, you would share your driveway with him.


Offering your neighbor money for the right to create an easement usually paves the way for an agreement, or for extending an existing easement. Be sure the easement is legally written and included in a deed package.

Defining Types of Easements

According to, easements are typically created by a written contract or a conveyance of deed. A driveway easement gives the easement holder the right to use the property owner's driveway to access his land.

Some states mandate that the easement will transfer when land ownership changes, while other states allow the easement to cease when land changes hands. Outside of this restriction, easements are permanent unless they expressly name a time limit for them to dissolve, which is a common occurrence on construction sites that need driveway access to the land being developed.

Easements Can Be Terminated

There are several ways a driveway easement can be terminated. An easement agreement that includes a clearly defined timeline will terminate when the time expires. For example, you might have allowed an easement as long as the neighbor you gave it to resides in the home, but set it to terminate if they move and rent the home out, or sell the house.

Mutual Agreement Works

If you and the other party to the easement agree that it should be terminated, it can be done with a written agreement. The easement holder can also opt to transfer the easement back to the other party, which cancels it out because a property owner cannot give himself an easement on property he currently owns.

Merging Properties

If a person comes to own both properties that the easement impacts, the easement terminates, because the above scenario becomes true, in which the easement can no longer exist as there are not two property owners anymore. Therefore, no need to get permission to cross one of them for land access.

Quiet a Title

For an easement that has been in force for many years, there is a process called "quiet the title." It is rather complicated but in short involves having a new land survey completed, or using a recently updated survey to show that the property lines on the first survey were inaccurate. Once the property lines have been redrawn, the land on which the driveway being conveyed by easement actually ends up a part of the easement owner's land, deeming the easement no longer necessary.

About the Author

Candace  Webb


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