A landlocked property was purchased. Appropriate documents were drawn, but the easement was never recorded. Later, when the property was sold, the easement was not mentioned. Is there a valid easement across the property?

While recording an easement is important for public notice and protecting against claims, the absence of recording does not necessarily invalidate an easement that was created prior to the sale. An unrecorded easement can still be enforceable if it is established and the dominant estate can prove its existence.

The omission of the easement in the sale documentation does not negate its validity. An easement is a property right that can exist independently of whether it was disclosed in a sale; its legal standing is based on its existence rather than its mention in transactional documents.

This option misrepresents the relationship between dominant and servient estates. While the servient estate is the property burdened by the easement, it does not imply that such control validates or invalidates existing easements. The dominant estate benefits from the easement, regardless of whether it is recorded or mentioned during property transactions.