Joint Driveway

sometimes the first deeds include the easements for the shared driveway and the easements were not included in the subsequent Deeds over the years. The only way to find out is to follow the chain of title back to the first deed. In your case you have a subdivision so you may find the first deed in the grantor index under the subdivider's name right after the plat (if they didn't hold the lots for some years).

That's the sort of thing that a title report should find. Contact your friendly neighborhood title company.

If there is no document, then there is still likely a prescriptive easement.

Dave's right. You should also search the subdivision plat and any covenants, conditions or restrictions that might have been filed with the plat. Joint driveways, even when accompanied by a well-written cross-easement agreement only work when the neighbors cooperate.

Cooperation with a small reminder...

JBS

I have seen this a few times over the years in Burlingame, and we had to create easements as part of a requirement from the City once they wanted to do some remodeling.

NO SUCH PROBLEMS IN THE LAND OF THE TORRENS TITLE

The certificates of title clearly states if there are rights of way and who has dominant and servient rights. The accompanying boundary diagram showing the land boundary dimension and and identified right of way boundaries and dimensions .

In some cases one property provides the physical access for both properties, while in other cases the physical access is shared like the scenario in the above driveway picture .

At least we do not then have uncertainty over legal access and if rights required then they can be easily created.

RADU

I have literally done hundreds of surveys that look like JBS's first photo. In a majority of them, there are two garages, joined by a party wall.

In most instances, the easement is spelled out in the current deed. In a few (actually, more than just "a few") the easement is not mentioned, but it is clear that it exists. Usually, going a bit further back into the record reveals that someone (attorney, title company, ?) at some point forgot to carry it forward in the deed to the next owner.

The easement appears in the parent deed (written when the developer build the houses) in every case I can remember doing the research back that far.

As for the easement not appearing in ANY documents or plans, then the common usage has probable ripened into a prescriptive easement. I would should the driveway and indicate that it is being used by both parties.

NO SUCH PROBLEMS IN THE LAND OF THE TORRENS TITLE

One local town has permitted joint garages to be built. The structure is basically two structures with a common wall. One side may be metal and the other wood. One side may be blue and the other red. One may have a shingle roof and the other tin. The roof peak will be along the common lot line.

I live in a cluster development with an HOA that maintains common areas. Back in the early 1990's, the planners wanted all homes to share driveways, but only about 6 lots actually have them. There is NO provision in any of the deeds or declarations to maintain the driveways. Where the neighbors get along, no problems. Where there are personality conflicts, well, you can imagine....

The first thing to do would be, as others have said, a title search back to the initial creation of the lots looking for language for an easement that may have been missed on subsequent documents. Depending on the jurisdiction, there may be approval documents in the Planning Dept. files that specify a width and location for the access (proposed at that point). I wouldn't show that data on a survey as though it exists as planned if the parties failed to follow up with the language in the property transfers but it would be a good place to start cleaning up the documents now if the as-built access conforms to the proposed access.

If none of that exists, I don't see how a claim of prescriptive or implied or easement of necessity would fail to be upheld legally, but I still wouldn't show an easement on a survey as though it exists without it being formally created in writing. You could show the driveway and whatever utilities and appurtenances exist but could you call it an easement without it being fixed in writing as to location and width? That to me would be risky business.

I push came to shove and the parties lawyered up over the issue, the attorney(s) for the party(ies) that own what would be the servient property would be foolish to advise their clients to fight against what would seem to be an open-and-shut case, but people fight about a lot less, so there could be some legal wrangling over compensation and terms of the easement language, liability, blah, blah.

I testified in a case where there is a recorded easement yet one of the parties blocked it.

I can't understand their Attorney not telling them to quit blocking the easement but he was young and wanted to prove something by bulldogging his way through it.

The Judge took my file which had all of the Deeds in the chain of title and the easement, copied it and ruled that the easement exists, I mean like DUH!

Weird what people will fight over.

The easement blockers were immigrants and I think they just got bad advice.

I had an adjoiner try to tell me that he had a 15' easement on his neighbor but his neighbor didn't have the same on him. It didn't make sense because the shared drive in use for many years went right down the boundary line and both used it. So I looked it up at the Recorder's, it took about 2 hours but I found both easement deeds which were obviously exchanged for the mutual benefit of a single 30' wide driveway easement.

The easements were mentioned in a hit and miss fashion down through the years, hence the confusion.