Horner v. Heather
Texas Court of Appeals
397 S.W.3d 321 (2013)
Horner's father had told Heather's father he could use a road crossing Horner's (plaintiff) inherited property to reach Heather's (defendant) inherited land, but Horner testified her father said the permission could be revoked if the land was disturbed. After Horner declined to formalize an easement when Heather asked, Heather sued claiming an easement by estoppel, though he admitted he never relied on any Horner-family representations when making improvements to his own property and never made improvements to the roadway itself; the trial court awarded Heather an easement by estoppel, and Horner appealed.
Whether mere use of a roadway on a neighbor's land, without an explicit representation creating an easement, is enough to establish an easement by estoppel.