Can you sell a property easement in Washington?

A property easement, or right of way, is defined as the ability to access a piece of land across someone else’s property. For example, easements are used in the case of a land locked lot that has no direct road access of its own because it is surrounded by the property of others.  In the state of Washington, you may be curious if sales of easments in Washington are permitted as a way of making a little extra money when the land locked property is sold.  So, can you sell a property easement in the state of Washington?

• Theoretically yes, you can sell a property easement in the state of Washington, but you may not have to.  
• Washington has what are called implied easements, meaning that right of way to the inaccessible lands is implied or assumed.  
• What this means is that if someone transfers land to you that has no accessible right of way, you may use the implied easement to access your land without having to pay the person additional money for a granted property easement.  
• An implied easement will exist if there is no other way to access the property and if it is reasonably expected that you would need that easement to enjoy or otherwise utilize the property.

To get help determining if the property easement that you are the owner of is for sale, you should strongly consider speaking with an experienced real estate lawyer who can better explain to you your legal rights.