How does an easement appurtenant affect the property adjacent to the dominant tenement?

An easement appurtenant creates a legal right for the dominant tenement, which is the property benefiting from the easement, to use a portion of the servient estate, the property that is burdened by the easement. This relationship affects the servient estate by imposing usage restrictions on it. Specifically, the servient estate cannot obstruct the uses granted by the easement. For instance, if the easement allows for a shared driveway, the owner of the servient estate cannot place barriers or otherwise impede access to that driveway by the dominant estate.

Understanding this dynamic is crucial because it highlights the rights and obligations tied to both properties involved in the easement relationship. It emphasizes that while the dominant estate gains rights through the easement, the servient estate is also subject to certain limitations around how it can be used, reinforcing the legal and practical implications of an easement appurtenant.