Blog · September 30, 2026
What Is a Release of Easement?
A release of easement is a recorded instrument in which the holder gives up the easement, in whole or in part. The burden ends only to the extent the release says. A letter, a removed fence, or a blank GIS layer is not a release.
Platbookmapper is an Amazon Associate. If you buy through an Amazon link on this page, we earn a commission. The link is a product, not the county map.
The holder has to sign
The servient owner cannot release an easement they do not hold. The dominant owner, or the utility that holds an easement in gross, signs the release. It describes the easement being released by book and page or instrument number, and it says whether the release is total or only a piece. A partial release might free the north ten feet and keep the rest for a line that remains. If you read only the title Release of Easement, you can think the whole burden is gone when a strip remains. Read the legal description in the release against the original grant. The overlap between those two descriptions is what was freed. The rest stands.
Recording and the index
An unrecorded release may bind the parties who signed and still lose to a later buyer who had no notice, which is why the release belongs in the same recorder’s office as the easement. After recording, the tract index should show it near the original easement. Search forward. A title commitment that still lists the easement may have missed the release, or the release may be partial, or the commitment may be older than the release. Do not shout the commitment down and do not ignore it. Compare dates and descriptions. County GIS is slow to delete easement lines and sometimes never had them. A disappearing hatch is not a release. Platbookmapper links to the GIS and does not record releases.
Physical clearing is not legal clearing
A utility that pulls a pole has not necessarily released the easement. The right to reinstall may remain. A neighbor who says you can build in the driveway easement has not released it unless they are the holder and they sign a recordable release. Design the building on the original easement until the release is recorded and matches the footprint. Do not stake the freed area with a laser measure and pour concrete the same day you mail a draft. A laser measure is not a survey, and a draft is not a recording. If the release describes a line, a surveyor should relate that line to the building before you rely on inches.
What to do next
- Confirm the signer is the easement holder, not merely the neighbor.
- Compare the release description with the original grant.
- Check whether the release is partial.
- Wait for recording before you treat the burden as gone.
The mix-up to avoid
Taking a utility’s field abandonment, or a neighbor’s email, as a release. The easement stays until the holder releases it in a form the land records will accept.
Questions people ask
Does a release of one lot’s easement release the plat’s whole hatch?
No. A release covers the land it describes and the holder who signed. Other lots may have their own rights in a reciprocal easement. Read the beneficiaries. One signature may be one of several you need.
Can an easement expire without a release?
Some are written to end on a date or when a purpose ends. Those terms are in the grant. If the grant is perpetual and silent about expiration, do not invent an expiration from non-use without legal advice. Non-use is not automatically a release.
Find the county map
Open Platbookmapper and pick the county that taxes the land. Use that viewer to get the parcel id, then match it to the recorded plat if you need the easements and lot numbers.
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey.