Facts
- Charles F. Kingsley owned coastal upland in Gouldsborough, Maine.
- Gouldsborough Land Improvement Company owned the adjoining peninsula known as “Grindstone Neck,” bordered on three sides by the waters of Frenchman’s Bay and Winter Harbor.
- The defendant crossed the plaintiff’s land to reach its peninsula; the plaintiff sued in trespass alleging wrongful entry.
- Both parties traced title through a common grantor, and the defendant claimed an implied easement (a way of necessity) arose upon severance of the larger tract.
- The defendant lacked a convenient overland route to a public road except by passing over the plaintiff’s land.
- The peninsula was not completely landlocked because access by navigable water was available.
Issues
- Whether an implied easement of way by necessity arises over the grantor’s remaining land when the conveyed parcel, though lacking practical overland access, is bordered by the sea on three sides and is reachable by water.
Decision
- Judgment for the plaintiff was affirmed.
- The court held the defendant had no implied right of way by necessity over the plaintiff’s land.
- Water access prevented the showing of “strict necessity” required to imply an easement.
Legal Principles
- A way of necessity is an easement implied from the circumstances of a conveyance upon severance of commonly owned land.
- Implied grants of ways of necessity are construed strictly and recognized only upon strict necessity, not mere convenience.
- When the claimed dominant parcel has access by navigable water, it is not subject to the strict necessity that justifies implying an overland way across the grantor’s remaining land.
Conclusion
Because the defendant’s peninsula had access by navigable sea, the lack of a convenient overland route did not constitute strict necessity, and no easement by necessity was implied; the defendant’s entry across the plaintiff’s land was therefore actionable in trespass.