Williams Bros. Inc. Of Marshfield v. Peck

966 N.E.2d 860 (2012)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D purchased land to be used as a cranberry bog. D's certificate of title lists the following easement rights over the parcel now belonging to P: (1) a right of way, (2) the right to take sand, (3) the right to build bog houses, and (4) the right to cut trees if they shade the cranberry bog. D's parcel is registered land; P's parcel is not. The registration decree for D's parcel is dated 1942 and also lists the easement rights. The parcels had previously come under the common ownership of the Edgewood Trust in 1976. Just four months later, on September 2, 1976, the land was again severed, when Edgewood conveyed what is now the P's parcel to Ravenbrook Trust, which immediately conveyed the parcel to P on that same date. None of the deeds in that chain of title referenced the easement. The other parcel was conveyed to D ten years later, with the easement rights still listed on its certificate of title. D removed trees over 1.6 acres of P's parcel, in preparation for sand excavation. They also removed sand from two other areas of P's parcel, creating sand pits. P sued, contending that any easement over its land was terminated. The Land Court judge determined that the easement had been terminated when the parcels came into common ownership, and he ordered the easement language struck from D's certificate of title. D appealed.