Can You Add Parties To An Exclusive Easement?

10/20/2025 05:23 AM Mark Goodman

A while back on our blog, we took a closer look at the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive easements and how they could apply to your situation. Among other things, and exclusive easement seemingly grants more control to the involved parties, as they know they’ll be the only ones who can access specific areas of a property, while a non-exclusive easement can be simpler if you need to guarantee access to different parties that could change over time. But can you write an easement such that you get the best of both worlds? Can you create an exclusive easement that can be updated if you need to add access for another party down the road? We discuss adding parties to an exclusive easement agreement in today’s blog.

Changing An Exclusive Easement Agreement

You may assume that it will be pretty easy to amend an easement agreement because you are the one who owns the land. However, when you enter an easement agreement with another party, you lose a fair amount of say in matters. When you guarantee access to a property, you cannot take away that access or alter an agreement that could burden the party who has been allowed access simply because you still own the land. You’ve granted rights, and you can’t infringe on those access rights, even if it seems to be something as simple as allowing others to have those same rights, without approval from the estate you have an exclusive agreement with.

In other words, if you want to make any changes to your exclusive easement agreement, you’re going to need to get permission from the dominant estate (the estate that has been granted access to your property). You can draw up a new easement as the property owner, but unless the dominant estate agrees to void the old agreement and sign the new easement terms, there’s nothing you can do to amend an easement. You can try to sweeten the deal with a buyout or by granting them more favorable terms in an updated agreement, but you can’t force them to do anything. You’ve granted them rights, and you can’t alter this agreement without their permission or a clear violation of the terms of the easement.

If you’re looking to terminate or amend an easement agreement but are running into pushback from the dominant estate, it’s worthwhile to connect with a company like Commercial Partners. We can look for legal ways to gain leverage in the situation or talk with the other side about ways the new easement will benefit them more than the current one. You don’t have to feel powerless to amend an agreement that governs land that you own. Bring a team of professionals aboard and let them use their industry experience to help you achieve the desired result in regards to your current easement agreement.

For more information about altering an exclusive easement agreement, or for assistance with a different issue related to commercial property management, reach out to the team at Commercial Partners today at (612) 337-2470.