In short: An easement is a right to use someone else’s land for a specific purpose. In Florida, easements are created by written grant, by necessity, by implication, or by prescription after 20 years of open, continuous, adverse use. Disputes usually turn on scope: who may use it, for what, and whether it is exclusive. Quiet title actions resolve them.
Easement disputes are neighbor disputes with a title component. They are among the most common real estate cases in Florida courts.
Types of Easements
- Express: created in a written, recorded deed or plat. The words control scope.
- Utility: usually granted by plat or recorded instrument. A utility can use and maintain the easement for its stated purpose, but its rights are limited to that scope.
- Way of necessity: when land is landlocked, Florida provides an implied or statutory way of necessity (§ 704.01).
- Prescriptive: created by actual, continuous, uninterrupted use for 20 years, adverse to the owner and open enough that the owner knew or should have known. Courts require clear and positive proof.
The Real Fights
- Scope: a driveway easement is not a parking easement. A drainage tract isn’t a walking path. The arguments below test exactly these questions.
- Exclusive vs. shared: unless the grant says exclusive, the owner of the land can usually keep using it in ways that don’t interfere.
- Relocation and blocking: fences, gates, and plantings that block access lead to injunction suits.
- Maintenance: who pays to repair the road or well.
Utility Easements
Before buying rural or large-lot property, check for transmission and pipeline easements. They can limit building sites and future use, and expansion projects can bring new survey crews and condemnation proceedings. Read the recorded easement, not just the survey.
Quiet Title
A quiet title action (Chapter 65) asks the court to declare who holds what rights. Every person with an interest in the land must be joined; missing an indispensable party can undo the judgment.
Marketable Record Title Act
Florida’s MRTA (Chapter 712) can extinguish old, unpreserved interests after 30 years, but easements in visible use are generally protected. Don’t assume an old easement is gone.
Watch: the videos behind this article
WARNING TO CITRUS COUNTY RESIDENTS Utility easements aren’t “just power lines.”
Called a Quiet Title Action — But Is There Any Cloud on the Title?
Watch the Real Appellate Arguments
These are recordings of actual Florida appellate arguments over easement scope, exclusivity, prescriptive easements, and quiet title, posted on the channel. An argument is not a ruling: read the written opinion before relying on any outcome.
Shared Well or Mine Alone? Easement Exclusivity Fight Between Neighbors | Marlet v. Belt
Easement Dispute Affirmed: Chickillo v. Baker Property Battle | 2D24-0273
Quiet Title, Marketable Title Act- Adverse Possession
Florida Prescriptive Easements & Trespass Law | Gregory Dana v. Lorrie Eilers | 2D18-2353
"This Case Is Crying Out for a Diagram" — Two Fences, a 1976 Easement and an Injunction
Go Deeper
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get a prescriptive easement in Florida?
By 20 years of actual, continuous, uninterrupted use that is adverse to the owner and open, proven by clear and positive evidence.
Can my neighbor block my easement?
Not in a way that unreasonably interferes with its use. Courts can order obstructions removed.
What can a utility do on a utility easement?
Use and maintain the land for the purposes stated in the recorded grant. Its rights are limited to that scope.
What if my land is landlocked in Florida?
Florida law provides for a way of necessity in qualifying cases, including a statutory way under § 704.01.
Talk to a Florida property dispute lawyer
Weidner Law, P.A. handles property disputes including easements and quiet title actions from St. Petersburg. Call (727) 954-8752 or email weidner@mattweidnerlaw.com.
Read the law yourself, free: every Florida rule and statute is on floridarules.net.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your situation. Reading it, watching the videos, or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.
