Which statement best describes voluntary relinquishment in relation to easements?

• A. By prescription
• B. By condemnation
• C. When terminating an easement can be given up voluntarily.
• D. Lack of purpose

Answer: (C)

The concept being tested is that an easement can be ended by a voluntary relinquishment. This happens when the person who holds the right—the owner of the easement—chooses to give it up, typically by signing a release or deed of release and having it recorded. Once released, the easement is extinguished for both the dominant estate (the land that benefited from the easement) and the servient estate (the land burdened by it), because there is no longer a right remaining to exercise.

This is different from acquiring an easement by prescription, which is about gaining a right through long, continuous use, or condemnation, where the government takes property and may terminate or transfer interests as part of that process. Lack of purpose alone isn’t a formal method of ending an easement; while ceasing use can affect an easement, voluntary relinquishment requires an explicit act to surrender the right.