As part of conducting a title search on a property, a lawyer often comes across various registered instruments on the Parcel. Depending on the type of property, it is vital to pull the details on as many instruments as possible as different types of instruments could give legal rights to parties other than the registered owner on title.

Depending on who they are registered in favour of, Easements and Right-of-Ways are two such instruments which should be investigated in further detail.

The most common types of Easements are those registered in favour of a municipality or a utility company. These grant such entities the right of access to your property for instances that include but are not limited to installation / repairs to drainage; grading; and utility connections.

Note that Easements do have a limit on their validity period and should be requisitioned to be removed from the Parcel if an Easement has not been renewed within the validity period but still appears as active on the Parcel.

In comparison to an Easement, a Right-of-Way legally allows someone access through your property to get to another site. Common examples include shared driveways in freehold townhouses or semi-detached homes.

Note that the ownership for the part of the property affected by the Right-of-Way remains with the registered owner on title. As such, the parties benefitting from the Right-of-Way need the consent of the registered owner prior to making any changes to the area in question and the registered owner reserves the right to refuse any such requests.

Please feel free to contact one of our lawyers should you have questions about this topic!