1. General Provisions

General Provisions on Easements

Concept

The general provisions address how easements are established, how they remain attached to the estates concerned, and when title is required for their acquisition. The Civil Code distinguishes legal easements, established by law, from voluntary easements, established by the will of the owners. (Art. 619, Civil Code)¹

Governing provisions

Articles 617 and 618 govern inseparability and indivisibility. Articles 619, 622, and 623 govern the source of an easement, acquisition of specified kinds by title, and the means of curing absent documentary proof of origin. (Art. 617, Civil Code)² (Art. 618, Civil Code)³ (Art. 619, Civil Code)¹ (Art. 622, Civil Code)⁴ (Art. 623, Civil Code)⁵

Requisites / Rules

• An easement is inseparable from the estate to which it actively or passively belongs. Its connection to the estate remains the starting point when ownership changes. (Art. 617, Civil Code)²
• Division of the servient estate does not modify the easement. Each person receiving a portion must bear the easement on the part corresponding to that person. (Art. 618, Civil Code)³
• Division of the dominant estate allows each person receiving a portion to use the easement in its entirety, but not to change its place of use or make it more burdensome in any other way. (Art. 618, Civil Code)³
• Continuous nonapparent easements, and all discontinuous easements whether apparent or not, may be acquired only by title. Visibility alone therefore does not dispense with the title requirement for a discontinuous easement. (Art. 622, Civil Code)⁴

Distinctions

Inseparability concerns the easement’s attachment to an estate; indivisibility concerns its continued operation when either estate is divided. Likewise, the distinction between legal and voluntary easements identifies their source, while Article 622 addresses acquisition of particular kinds of easements by title. (Art. 617, Civil Code)² (Art. 618, Civil Code)³ (Art. 619, Civil Code)¹ (Art. 622, Civil Code)⁴

Key doctrines

A right of way is a discontinuous easement and requires title. In Spouses Aquino v. Spouses Delfin, the Court also recognized that physical signs and title annotations could serve as title upon transfer, binding a transferee absent a contrary stipulation. The point is not that mere use of a path replaces title, but that the signs and annotations had legal significance in the transfer considered by the Court. (Spouses Aquino v. Spouses Delfin, G.R. No. 227917, 17 March 2021)⁶

A transferee who takes title with knowledge of an existing easement cannot rely on the indefeasibility or conclusiveness of title to defeat it. Liwag v. Happy Glen Loop Homeowners Association, Inc. applied this rule to an easement for a water facility and open space. (Liwag v. Happy Glen Loop Homeowners Association, Inc., G.R. No. 189755, 4 July 2012)⁷

Exceptions

Where an easement cannot be acquired by prescription, the absence of a document or other proof showing its origin may be cured by a deed of recognition from the owner of the servient estate or by a final judgment. This rule addresses missing proof of origin; it should not be confused with acquisition by prescription. (Art. 623, Civil Code)⁵

Bar tip

Identify the source and kind of easement first. Then ask whether title is required and, if an estate was divided, apply Article 618 without enlarging the burden on the servient estate. (Art. 619, Civil Code)¹ (Art. 622, Civil Code)⁴ (Art. 618, Civil Code)³