An easement appurtenant—also known as an appurtenant easement, an appendant easement, or a pure easement—is an easement created to benefit another tract of land, with the use of the easement being incident to the ownership of that other tract of land.

An easement appurtenant benefits one tract of land (the dominant estate or tenement) to the detriment or burden of the other tract of land (the servient estate or tenement).

Easements appurtenant are attached to the land (are said to “run with the land”) and are automatically transferred when either the dominant estate or the servient estate is sold or transferred to a new owner.

In Rhode Island, an easement appurtenant is recognized as a non-possessory right to use another person's land for a specific purpose that benefits the holder's adjacent land (the dominant estate). The land that is subject to the use is known as the servient estate. These easements are considered to 'run with the land,' meaning they are automatically transferred to new owners when either the dominant or servient property is sold or otherwise conveyed. The creation of an easement appurtenant typically requires a written agreement that must be signed, witnessed, and often notarized, following the formalities required for the conveyance of land. This agreement should be recorded in the land records to provide notice to future purchasers. Rhode Island law will enforce and interpret easements appurtenant in accordance with the terms of the agreement and the intent of the parties at the time the easement was created, as well as established principles of property law.