Guy v. Delaware
Delaware Superior Court
438 A.2d 1250 (1981)
The Ennises (defendants) owned farmland burdened by a state highway easement prohibiting obstruction of intersection sightlines, then conveyed the farm to a state agency while reserving a lifetime right to live in the farmhouse and till all tillable acres; after the Guys (plaintiffs) were injured in a car accident allegedly caused by corn obstructing the intersection view, they sued the Ennises, who moved for summary judgment arguing the highway easement had been extinguished by merger once the state (already easement holder) acquired the servient farmland.
Whether, if the owner of an easement purchases the servient estate, the easement is extinguished by merger if the seller retains a possessory estate.