Michigan Easement Deed
County Forms
Where is the property located?
Alcona CountyAlger CountyAllegan CountyAlpena CountyAntrim CountyArenac CountyBaraga CountyBarry CountyBay CountyBenzie CountyBerrien CountyBranch CountyCalhoun CountyCass CountyCharlevoix CountyCheboygan CountyChippewa CountyClare CountyClinton CountyCrawford CountyDelta CountyDickinson CountyEaton CountyEmmet CountyGenesee CountyGladwin CountyGogebic CountyGrand Traverse CountyGratiot CountyHillsdale CountyHoughton CountyHuron CountyIngham CountyIonia CountyIosco CountyIron CountyIsabella CountyJackson CountyKalamazoo CountyKalkaska CountyKent CountyKeweenaw CountyLake CountyLapeer CountyLeelanau CountyLenawee CountyLivingston CountyLuce CountyMackinac CountyMacomb CountyManistee CountyMarquette CountyMason CountyMecosta CountyMenominee CountyMidland CountyMissaukee CountyMonroe CountyMontcalm CountyMontmorency CountyMuskegon CountyNewaygo CountyOakland CountyOceana CountyOgemaw CountyOntonagon CountyOsceola CountyOscoda CountyOtsego CountyOttawa CountyPresque Isle CountyRoscommon CountySaginaw CountySaint Clair CountySaint Joseph CountySanilac CountySchoolcraft CountyShiawassee CountyTuscola CountyVan Buren CountyWashtenaw CountyWayne CountyWexford CountyEasement Deed for Real Estate Located in Michigan
An easement is an interest in real estate that gives one person the right to use someone else's land for a specific purpose. The focus of an easement is on usage, not on ownership. There are two types of easements: an easement appurtenant and an easement in gross. Further, easements can be affirmative or negative. An appurtenant easement benefits the dominant estate and runs with the land when the property is transferred. An easement in gross benefits an individual or a legal entity. An easement in Michigan is generally created by a deed in writing or by operation of law. The easement deed should specify the terms and conditions of the easement itself.
As an interest in real property, an easement deed in Michigan must be signed, dated, and acknowledged by the grantor. If an easement deed is executed in Michigan, it can be acknowledged before a judge, clerk of a court of record, or notary public within the state and should be endorsed with a certificate of acknowledgment by the officer taking acknowledgments (565.8). Michigan adheres to the uniform recognition of acknowledgments act, which means that an instrument acknowledged out of state can be recorded in Michigan if the instrument complies with that state's laws (565.9).
Recording can be a crucial step in protecting easement rights. An unrecorded easement deed is void as against any subsequent purchaser in good faith and for a valuable consideration, of the same real estate or portion thereof, whose conveyance is first duly recorded (565.29).
(Michigan ED Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)