This document discusses easements of light and view under Philippine law. It begins by defining easements and the dominant and servient estates. It notes that easements can be established legally or voluntarily. The easement of light and view provides the dominant estate the right to light, air, and view from the servient estate. This easement has two components - the easement of light and the easement of view. The document discusses how these easements can be positive or negative, and the significance of that determination for acquisition by prescription. It notes that an easement of light and view between two formerly commonly-owned estates can be acquired by title under Article 624 of the Civil Code through the existence of an apparent sign of
This document discusses easements of light and view under Philippine law. It begins by defining easements and the dominant and servient estates. It notes that easements can be established legally or voluntarily. The easement of light and view provides the dominant estate the right to light, air, and view from the servient estate. This easement has two components - the easement of light and the easement of view. The document discusses how these easements can be positive or negative, and the significance of that determination for acquisition by prescription. It notes that an easement of light and view between two formerly commonly-owned estates can be acquired by title under Article 624 of the Civil Code through the existence of an apparent sign of
This document discusses easements of light and view under Philippine law. It begins by defining easements and the dominant and servient estates. It notes that easements can be established legally or voluntarily. The easement of light and view provides the dominant estate the right to light, air, and view from the servient estate. This easement has two components - the easement of light and the easement of view. The document discusses how these easements can be positive or negative, and the significance of that determination for acquisition by prescription. It notes that an easement of light and view between two formerly commonly-owned estates can be acquired by title under Article 624 of the Civil Code through the existence of an apparent sign of
This document discusses easements of light and view under Philippine law. It begins by defining easements and the dominant and servient estates. It notes that easements can be established legally or voluntarily. The easement of light and view provides the dominant estate the right to light, air, and view from the servient estate. This easement has two components - the easement of light and the easement of view. The document discusses how these easements can be positive or negative, and the significance of that determination for acquisition by prescription. It notes that an easement of light and view between two formerly commonly-owned estates can be acquired by title under Article 624 of the Civil Code through the existence of an apparent sign of
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2019- Easement of light and view
Article 613 of the Civil Code
=, an easement or servitude is an encumbrance imposed upon an immovable for the benefit of another immovable belonging to a different owner. The immovable in favor of which the easement is established is called the dominant estate; that which is subject thereto, the servient estate.
As defined by jurisprudence, an easement= is “a real right on another’s property,
corporeal and immovable, whereby the owner of the latter must refrain from doing or allowing somebody else to do or something to be done on his property, for the benefit of another person or tenement.
Easements are established either
-by law or (legal) -by the will of the owner. (voluntary)
An easement has been described as
= “a real right which burdens a thing with a prestation consisting of determinate servitudes for the exclusive enjoyment of a person who is not its owner or of a tenement belonging to another.”
Legal easements =are ones imposed by law, and which have, for their object, either public use or interest of private persons, as opposed to
voluntary easements =that are established by the agreements of the parties.
The different legal easements are:
( a) easement relating to waters; (b) right of way; (c) party wall; (d) light and view; (e) drainage; (f) intermediate distances; (g) easement against nuisance; and (h) lateral and subjacent support.
The legal easement called easement of light and view
=refers to an easement whereby the dominant estate enjoys the right to have free access to light, a little air, and a view overlooking the adjoining estate, i.e., the servient estate.
The easement of light and view has two components:
1. The easement of light or jus luminum
= has the purpose of admitting light and a little air, as in the case of small windows, not more than 30 centimeters square, at the height of the ceiling joists or immediately under the ceiling. = right to make openings under certain conditions in order to receive light from another’s tenement while the easement of view is the right to make openings or windows, to enjoy the view through the estate of another and the power to prevent all constructions or works which would obstruct such view or make the same difficu
2. the easement of view or servidumbre prospectus
= has the principal purpose of affording view, as in the case of full or regular windows overlooking the adjoining estate. =always included in the former **As held by jurisprudence, the easement of light and view is intrinsically intertwined with the easement of the servient estate not to build higher or altius non tollendi. These two necessarily go together “because an easement of light and view requires that the owner of the servient estate shall not build to a height that will obstruct the window.
Positive and Negative Easements Article 616 of the Civil Code
1.positive easement =is one which imposes upon the owner of the servient estate the obligation of allowing something to be done or of doing it himself.
2. a negative easement =is that which prohibits the owner of the servient estate from doing something which he could lawfully do if the easement did not exist.
What is the significance of determining whether an easement is positive or
negative?
Such determination is consequential in determining how an easement is acquired.
in order to acquire easements by prescription in positive easements
= the prescriptive period shall commence from the day on which the owner of the dominant estate, or the person who may have made use of the easement, commenced to exercise it upon the servient estate.
negative easements, =the prescriptive period shall commence from the day on which the owner of the dominant estate forbade, by an instrument acknowledged before a notary public, the owner of the servient estate, from executing an act which would be lawful without the easement.
an easement of light and view may either be positive or negative.
As a general rule: an easement of light and view is a positive one = if the window or opening is situated in a party wall,
it is a negative one =if the window or opening is thru one’s own wall, i.e., thru a wall of the dominant estate.
However, “[e]ven if the window is on one’s own wall, still the easement would be positive if the window is on a balcony or projection extending over into the adjoining land.”
Article 624 – The Existence of an Apparent Sign of Easement between Two Estates formerly owned by a Single Owner considered a Title to Easement of Light and View
While it is a general rule that a window or opening situated on the wall of the dominant estate involves a negative easement, and, thus, may only be acquired by prescription, tacked from the time of the formal prohibition upon the proprietor of the servient estate, it is not true that all windows or openings situated on the wall of the dominant estate may only be acquired through prescription. Aside from prescription, easements may likewise be acquired through title. The term “title” does not necessarily mean a document. Instead, it refers to a juridical act or law sufficient to create the encumbrance. One such legal proviso which grants title to an easement is found in Article 624 of the Civil Code. Article 624 of the Civil Code reads: x x x. The existence of an apparent sign of easement between two estates, established or maintained by the owner of both, shall be considered, should either of them be alienated, as a title in order that the easement may continue actively and passively, unless, at the time the ownership of the two estates is divided, the contrary should be provided in the title of conveyance of either of them, or the sign aforesaid should be removed before the execution of the deed. This provision shall also apply’ in case of the division of a thing owned in common by two or more persons.
The mode of acquiring an easement under Article 624 is a “legal presumption or
apparent sign.” Article 624 finds application in situations wherein two or more estates were previously owned by a singular owner, or even a single estate but with two or more portions being owned by a singular owner. Originally, there is no true easement that exists as there is only one owner.
In Amor v. Florentino, the Court first explained that easements may be acquired either through title or prescription and enumerated the different acts by which an easement may be acquired by virtue of title, namely: ( 1) a deed of recognition by the owner of the servient estate; (2) a final judgment; and (3) an apparent sign between two estates, established by the owner of both, referring to Article 541 (now Article 624) of the Civil Code
Citing decisions of the Supreme Tribunal of Spain, the Court explained that “under article 541 [now Article 624] of the Civil Code, the visible and permanent sign of an easement ‘is the title that characterizes its existence’
The Court explained that the moment of the constitution of the easement of light and view, together with that of altius non tollendi, was the time of the transfer of the other property adjacent to the lot where the windows were located, which, in that case, was the death of the original owner of both properties:
Sound juridical thinking rejects such an idea because, properly speaking, the easement is not created till the division of the property, inasmuch as a predial or real easement is one of the rights in another’s property, or Jura in re aliena and nobody can have an easement over his own property, nemini sua res servit. In the instant case, therefore, when the original owner, Maria Florentino, opened the windows which received light and air from another lot belonging to her, she was merely exercising her right of dominion. Consequently, the moment of the constitution of the easement of light and view, together with that of altius non tollendi, was the time of the death of the original owner of both properties.
Gargantos v. Tan Yanan.
The Court held that Article 538 (now Article 621) of the Civil Code and the doctrine in Cortes v. Yu-Tibo that the easement of light and view in situations involving openings situated on the wall of the dominant estate is a negative easement that may only be acquired by prescription tacked from formal prohibition “[is] not applicable herein because the two estates, that now owned by petitioner, and that owned by respondent, were formerly owned by just one person, Francisco Sanz.” The Court further explained that the existence of the doors and windows on the northeastern side of the house was equivalent to a title, for the visible and permanent sign of an easement was the title that characterized its existence:
The conclusion of the CA, Special 18th Division that Article 624 applies only when the (future) servient estate has an improvement thereon at the time of the transfer of the ownership of either or both of the estates finds no textual support. What the law merely states is that there must be two estates that were once owned by one owner, regardless of the existence of improvements in the (future) servient estate.
What law requires is that, at the time the ownership of the estates is divided, there must be an apparent sign of easement that exists, such as a window, door, or other opening, in the dominant estate. As exhaustively explained by recognized Civil Law Commentator, former CA Justice Eduardo P. Caguioa, the existence of an easement of light and view under Article 624 is established as long as ( 1) there exists an apparent sign of servitude between two estates; (2) the sign of the easement must be established by the owner of both tenements; (3) either or both of the estates are alienated by the owner; and (4) at the time of the alienation nothing is stated in the document of alienation contrary to the easement nor is the sign of the easement removed before the execution of the document:
***It must be stressed that the presence of a minor factual difference does not preclude the application of judicial precedent. It must be explained how the factual difference in a case makes the doctrine established in the decided case inapplicable therein.
