{"id":7428,"date":"2026-05-01T08:54:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:54:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?p=7428"},"modified":"2026-05-01T08:54:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T12:54:49","slug":"the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dinwiddie Case: Virginia Court Hands Down an Easement-Law Game Changer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Recently the Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision on easement rights that will have an impact throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Justice Stephen McCullough penned the decision, and it came out on April 9, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this case, a Virginia land owner can feel free to leave belongings on an easement\u2014as long as reasonable passage is possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a legal game-changer. Owners who have rights of way that pass through other Virginians\u2019 properties have long assumed that they always get the full width of the easement. That assumption has guided prevailing custom\u2014even if the party using the access point doesn\u2019t need or use the full width stated on the easement deed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Virginia Supreme Court decision rejects this longstanding, customary practice. And it changes the way Virginia property owners will treat their easements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s an Easement Deed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An easement<\/a> provides physical access to one property through another. For example, here\u2019s where you can learn how a driveway easement is made<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By recording an easement deed in your home\u2019s county, you formally grant access rights to another party without giving up your title to the land. This may be necessary when adjacent homeowners share driveways, or when utility contractors need access to infrastructure, or for general right-of-way purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A professional surveyor is usually hired for the creation of the easement. This is because the easement needs to state its exact place, path, and measurements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get an easement deed form for your location with the Deeds.com <\/em><\/strong>Easement Deed Forms & Complete Guide<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Easement Holders Can\u2019t Claim Exclusive Control Over Every Inch<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unless their access is \u201cunreasonably impeded\u201d by the owners of the property with the easement, easement holders may not claim exclusive control over the space, Virginia has ruled. What does this mean in practical effect? The owner of the land with the easement may leave equipment, belongings, or debris on the easement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, Virginia Supreme Court Justice Stephen McCullough wrote, easements are simply about providing access<\/em>. And the owners of the underlying titles don\u2019t lose all their property-use rights on the space just because they\u2019ve granted a right of way. As long as they don\u2019t block the necessary passage, that\u2019s legally fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This creates a murkiness in the law, because what\u2019s \u201cunreasonable\u201d depends on what the passageway is used for and how wide it happens to be. Virginia law has no blanket easement standard. What if the material left in the easement is possible to navigate around, although passage might be made difficult? Would that be reasonable? This would be a case-by-case question.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Has Virginia Looked at This Question?  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The question arose over a driveway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David and Caryn live in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. They bought a landlocked property<\/a>. Their gravel driveway uses an easement over land owned by Thibault Enterprises LLC to connect the home to State Route 601.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The easement, granted to them when they purchased their home, is 50 feet wide. The gravel passageway, though, is just 12 feet wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple sued the Thibault company over fencing and foliage materials left on the easement. The items weren\u2019t on the gravel road itself, but were situated within the easement\u2019s 50-foot width. The couple claimed the company\u2019s stuff was annoying to drive around. The circuit court sided with the couple, and halted the company\u2019s use of the easement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By 2025, Thibault Enterprises was pressing the case in the appeals court. Stuff might be left on the easement granted to the household, yes. But, the company pointed out, it wasn\u2019t blocking \u201creasonable\u201d access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, the company was still the owner of the land, and it wanted Virginia to set the record straight. Caryn and David had access to their home\u2014and that, said the company, was enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the company lost. The Court of Appeals of Virginia agreed with the circuit court and found for David and Caryn. The appellate court reasoned that storing things within the easement constituted an impermissible narrowing of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going to Court Didn\u2019t Pan Out for David and Caryn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

David and Caryn wanted the court to affirm that an easement is fully available to the party granted access. They wanted a solid, lasting opinion from the court affirming the easement holder\u2019s legal rights. At first, the case went their way. But the lower courts were reversed at the state Supreme Court level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Thibault company had its own take on the matter. The company disagreed with the lower courts. And it kept pressing the point until the case got to the Supreme Court of Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court reviewed the language in the easement deed that the company had granted to the household. It looked for language expressing the intent of the owners of both properties. The court said the issue at hand was whether the actions of the company, which remained the land owner, \u201cunreasonably\u201d interfered with the household\u2019s intended use of the easement. Here, the easement deed specifically grants the homeowners \u201cthe right of ingress and egress over an outlet road\u201d that crosses Thibault\u2019s land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the view of the Virginia Supreme Court, the evidence was clear. The homeowners could \u201ctravel to and from their house over the land owned by Thibault,\u201d the judge wrote. The company\u2019s items were not impeding \u201cingress and egress in any appreciable way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virginia Supreme Court Justice McCullough cited case law that supported Thibault, such as a 2012 case, Piney Meeting House v. Hart<\/em>. In that case, the court disagreed that an underground propane tank interfered with an easement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thibault was therefore free to leave items within the easement\u2019s boundaries. \u201cThe Court of Appeals and the circuit court erred in holding otherwise,\u201d said the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Justice McCullough noted that the case-by-case determination could result in a different outcome\u2014if, say, construction or erosion changes a pathway, requiring it to be widened over the full easement.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of their legal adventure, Caryn and David ended up where they had started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A right of way is legally known as an \u201ceasement appurtenant.\u201d Such easements run with the land\u2014meaning future owners will receive the deed to the home <\/em><\/strong>subject to<\/em><\/strong><\/a> the easement. <\/em><\/strong>Unless the easement contains time limitations, future holders of the easement receive a continuing right of access.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expectations Are Not Always as Settled as They Look<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Courts, legislatures, agencies, and deed holders themselves change settled expectations from time to time. We see this strikingly through this case in Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Deeds.com<\/em>, we keep track and inform our readers, so you know the rights and responsibilities that come with a deed today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, we recommend consulting with an attorney when agreeing to, or disputing, a question of access rights and\/or easement use. The approaches in states, as you see, can vary and even change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Supporting References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thibault Enterprises LLC v. Yost (April 9, 2026), written by Justice Stephen R. McCullough for the Supreme Court of Virginia, citing Va. Code \u00a7 55.1-305 on interpretation of easement rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jason Boleman for Virginia Lawyers Weekly: <\/em>Real Property \u2013 Supreme Court Clarifies When Objects Can Be Placed in Easement<\/a> (published Apr. 28, 2026 by BridgeTower Media).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill Atkinson for The Petersburg Progress-Index<\/em>, via Progress-Index.com<\/em>: Virginia Supreme Court Rules on Dinwiddie Land Easement<\/a> (reprinted by AOL Media LLC on Apr. 10, 2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deeds.com<\/em>:  Easement Talk \u2013 Frequently Asked Questions About Driveways and Deeds<\/a> (Sep. 11, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deeds.com<\/em>: Will an Easement Need a Separate Recording When Someone Wants to Sell or Buy<\/a>? (Feb. 14, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as linked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More on topics: Implied easements<\/a>, Consenting to new property lines<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo credits: Jim Richter<\/a> and Anna Chirednichenko<\/a>, via Pexels\/Canva.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently the Virginia Supreme Court issued a decision on easement rights that will have an impact throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Justice Stephen McCullough penned the decision, and it came out on April 9, 2026. After this case, a Virginia land owner can feel free to leave belongings on an easement\u2014as long as reasonable passage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,10],"tags":[2198,3620,3622,3624,3626,3623,438,2201,3625,3621],"class_list":["post-7428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-easement-deed","category-virginia","tag-easement-deed","tag-easement-rights","tag-ingress-and-egress","tag-land-use-rights","tag-property-access-disputes","tag-property-law-virginia","tag-real-estate-law","tag-right-of-way","tag-supreme-court-virginia","tag-virginia-easement-law"],"yoast_head":"\nVirginia Easement Rights Changed by Supreme Court<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Virginia\u2019s Supreme Court reshaped easement rights, allowing landowners to use easement space if access remains reasonable. Learn what this means.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Just Changed Easement Rights\u2014Here\u2019s What It Means\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new Virginia Supreme Court ruling reshapes easement rights, allowing property owners to use easement space as long as access isn\u2019t unreasonably blocked. Here\u2019s what landowners and easement holders need to know now.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Deeds.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/deedsrealestate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-01T12:54:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-01T12:54:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Deeds.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Virginia Just Changed Easement Rights\u2014Here\u2019s What It Means\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A new Virginia Supreme Court ruling reshapes easement rights, allowing property owners to use easement space as long as access isn\u2019t unreasonably blocked. Here\u2019s what landowners and easement holders need to know now.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@RealEstateDeeds\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@RealEstateDeeds\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Deeds.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Deeds.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8e0eeca72de74094ddaa30fc54159b6b\"},\"headline\":\"The Dinwiddie Case: Virginia Court Hands Down an Easement-Law Game Changer\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-01T12:54:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-01T12:54:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1296,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"easement deed\",\"easement rights\",\"ingress and egress\",\"land use rights\",\"property access disputes\",\"property law Virginia\",\"real estate law\",\"right of way\",\"Supreme Court Virginia\",\"Virginia easement law\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Easement Deed\",\"Virginia\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Easement Rights Changed by Supreme Court\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-01T12:54:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-01T12:54:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Virginia\u2019s Supreme Court reshaped easement rights, allowing landowners to use easement space if access remains reasonable. Learn what this means.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":576},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Dinwiddie Case: Virginia Court Hands Down an Easement-Law Game Changer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/\",\"name\":\"Deeds.com\",\"description\":\"Real Estate Deeds Made Easy Since 1997\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Deeds.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/deeds-logo-bw.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/10\\\/deeds-logo-bw.png\",\"width\":417,\"height\":208,\"caption\":\"Deeds.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/deedsrealestate\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/RealEstateDeeds\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCWGNKXWKH9nluFfeIvG0OTQ\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.deeds.com\\\/articles\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8e0eeca72de74094ddaa30fc54159b6b\",\"name\":\"Deeds.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ceb3eac3a742cc3487be04bdf8e23cf5e2804c1a8c7f64f206a3b18e850562b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ceb3eac3a742cc3487be04bdf8e23cf5e2804c1a8c7f64f206a3b18e850562b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ceb3eac3a742cc3487be04bdf8e23cf5e2804c1a8c7f64f206a3b18e850562b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Deeds.com\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Easement Rights Changed by Supreme Court","description":"Virginia\u2019s Supreme Court reshaped easement rights, allowing landowners to use easement space if access remains reasonable. Learn what this means.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virginia Just Changed Easement Rights\u2014Here\u2019s What It Means","og_description":"A new Virginia Supreme Court ruling reshapes easement rights, allowing property owners to use easement space as long as access isn\u2019t unreasonably blocked. Here\u2019s what landowners and easement holders need to know now.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/","og_site_name":"Deeds.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/deedsrealestate\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-01T12:54:47+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-01T12:54:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Deeds.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Virginia Just Changed Easement Rights\u2014Here\u2019s What It Means","twitter_description":"A new Virginia Supreme Court ruling reshapes easement rights, allowing property owners to use easement space as long as access isn\u2019t unreasonably blocked. Here\u2019s what landowners and easement holders need to know now.","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","twitter_creator":"@RealEstateDeeds","twitter_site":"@RealEstateDeeds","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Deeds.com","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/"},"author":{"name":"Deeds.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/8e0eeca72de74094ddaa30fc54159b6b"},"headline":"The Dinwiddie Case: Virginia Court Hands Down an Easement-Law Game Changer","datePublished":"2026-05-01T12:54:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-01T12:54:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/"},"wordCount":1296,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","keywords":["easement deed","easement rights","ingress and egress","land use rights","property access disputes","property law Virginia","real estate law","right of way","Supreme Court Virginia","Virginia easement law"],"articleSection":["Easement Deed","Virginia"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/","url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/","name":"Virginia Easement Rights Changed by Supreme Court","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-01T12:54:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-01T12:54:49+00:00","description":"Virginia\u2019s Supreme Court reshaped easement rights, allowing landowners to use easement space if access remains reasonable. Learn what this means.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","width":1400,"height":576},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/the-dinwiddie-case-virginia-court-hands-down-an-easement-law-game-changer\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Dinwiddie Case: Virginia Court Hands Down an Easement-Law Game Changer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/","name":"Deeds.com","description":"Real Estate Deeds Made Easy Since 1997","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#organization","name":"Deeds.com","url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/deeds-logo-bw.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/deeds-logo-bw.png","width":417,"height":208,"caption":"Deeds.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/deedsrealestate\/","https:\/\/x.com\/RealEstateDeeds","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCWGNKXWKH9nluFfeIvG0OTQ"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/8e0eeca72de74094ddaa30fc54159b6b","name":"Deeds.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ceb3eac3a742cc3487be04bdf8e23cf5e2804c1a8c7f64f206a3b18e850562b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ceb3eac3a742cc3487be04bdf8e23cf5e2804c1a8c7f64f206a3b18e850562b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ceb3eac3a742cc3487be04bdf8e23cf5e2804c1a8c7f64f206a3b18e850562b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Deeds.com"}}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/virginia-easement-law-game-changer.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7431,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7428\/revisions\/7431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deeds.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}