Hillside Development Co. v. Fields
Missouri Court of Appeals
928 S.W.2d 886 (1996)
Nelson built a house with a driveway wrapping around its front and side to reach the only accessible public road, later bequeathing the property to Shriners Hospital, which subdivided it in 1984 and sold the undeveloped land, including most of the driveway's location, to Hillside Development (plaintiff), reserving a right-of-way easement for the house that inadvertently failed to cover a small curved portion of the driveway in front of the house. When Shriners sold the remaining developed portion to Fields (defendant) in 1987, that same curved section was excluded from both the deed and the express easement; Hillside sued Fields for trespass in 1993 after Fields used the disputed curved portion, and Fields counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment of an implied easement, which the trial court denied, ruling for Hillside.
Whether an implied easement is created where there was common ownership followed by subdivision, the claimed easement was an open, obvious, and visible benefit and burden arranged by the common owner, it was used long enough before subdivision to show permanence, and it is reasonably necessary for the dominant estate's full use and enjoyment.