What is an easement and how does it affect property rights?

An easement is a non-possessory right to use another person's land for a specific purpose without owning it. Common examples include utility easements allowing power companies to run lines, access easements granting passage across a neighbor's land, and drainage easements for water management. The property burdened by the easement is the servient estate, and the property benefiting is the dominant estate. Easements appurtenant run with the land and transfer automatically with ownership, while easements in gross benefit a specific person or company and do not attach to a particular parcel.