Short answer. No. The Civil Code makes easements inseparable from the estate they belong to. A right of way or a right to draw water cannot be carved off and sold on its own; it moves with the land, and passes automatically to whoever next owns that land.

What the law says

Easements are inseparable from the estate to which they actively or passively belong.

Civil Code, Article 617 — Easements Are Inseparable. Read the full provision →

The rule and the two estates it speaks to

Article 617 says that easements are inseparable from the estate to which they actively or passively belong. Every easement involves two pieces of land. One benefits — the dominant estate, which "actively" holds the right. The other bears the burden — the servient estate, which "passively" carries it. The article covers both sides of that relationship. The benefit cannot be detached from the land it serves and transferred to a stranger's property, and the burden cannot be shaken off by the owner of the servient land by dealing with his title. The easement is an attribute of the land itself, not a personal asset of whoever happens to own it today.

What happens when either property is sold

Because the easement attaches to the estate, it follows the estate. Sell the dominant land and the buyer takes the right of way with it, whether or not the deed of sale mentions it. Sell the burdened land and the buyer takes it subject to the same encumbrance, which is exactly why an annotation on the certificate of title matters so much — it is the notice that tells later buyers what they are getting. You cannot keep the right of way after selling the lot it served, and you cannot sell "the right of way" alone to a neighbour whose land was never the dominant estate. Neither transaction has anything to attach to.

What you can do instead

Inseparability is not immobility. The owners can agree to modify the easement — to relocate the path, widen or narrow it, or change the hours or manner of use — and the servient owner may generally propose a change of location at his own cost where the original spot has become very inconvenient, provided the new one is equally convenient to the dominant estate. The easement can also be extinguished by agreement, by merger of the two estates in one owner, by non-use for the period the law fixes, or when the need that justified it disappears. And a person who merely wants to allow a neighbour to pass may grant a personal permission or a lease instead, which creates no easement at all.

If someone is offering to sell you an easement

Treat it as a warning sign. What can validly be sold is land — and with it, the easements that already belong to it. Before paying anything, have the title of the land you are buying checked for annotated easements, and have the source of the right traced: was it created by agreement in a public instrument, by long-standing apparent and continuous use, or by a court because the lot is landlocked? Each origin carries different requirements, including indemnity to the burdened owner. Have counsel review the deed and the technical description together with the survey plan, so the right you are paying for is one that actually runs with the property you receive.

Cases citing this provision

These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.