😀
Real Property • Easements
PROP#122
Legal Definition
A license is a revocable privilege to go onto the land of another.
Plain English Explanation
A "License" is a legal permission slip. Licenses are privileges that allow the person with a license to do something specific. They can be as deliberate and specific as the right to operate a boat on a lake, or they can be as broad as "accessing the property to make a delivery."
Indeed, common examples of licensees (people with licenses to do stuff) are an Amazon delivery driver's license to come on to your property to leave a package you ordered, or even your mother-in-law coming over for a dinner party.
Note that licenses are not property interests. They can't be transferred or conveyed to others, and they are generally simple to revoke at any point, for any reason, by the person who provided the license.
Indeed, common examples of licensees (people with licenses to do stuff) are an Amazon delivery driver's license to come on to your property to leave a package you ordered, or even your mother-in-law coming over for a dinner party.
Note that licenses are not property interests. They can't be transferred or conveyed to others, and they are generally simple to revoke at any point, for any reason, by the person who provided the license.
Hypothetical
Hypo 1: Amy has made a large dinner. Amy's neighbors—Bob, Carl, and Dan—are outside playing in the street. Amy opens her front door and says, "Bob! Carl! Come on in and get some dinner! I made plenty!" Bob, Carl, and Dan all walk up to Amy's front door, open it, and enter her house. Amy hate's Dan, which is why she didn't invite him. Result: Bob and Carl are licensees, with the privilege to enter Amy's house for the purpose of having dinner. Dan is a trespasser.
Hypo 2: Same facts as Hypo 1, except during dinner, Bob tells an offensive joke and Amy asks him to leave. Result: Bob was a licensee, but Amy has now revoked that license, which means Bob must leave her house as he no longer has the privilege to stay in it and eat dinner.
Hypo 2: Same facts as Hypo 1, except during dinner, Bob tells an offensive joke and Amy asks him to leave. Result: Bob was a licensee, but Amy has now revoked that license, which means Bob must leave her house as he no longer has the privilege to stay in it and eat dinner.
Visual Aids
Related Concepts
How can an easement be terminated?
How is an easement created?
How is an easement terminated via abandonment?
How is an easement terminated via destruction or condemnation?
How is an easement terminated via estoppel?
How is an easement terminated via prescription?
How is an easement terminated via release?
How is an easement terminated via stated condition?
How is an easement terminated via unity of ownership?
If the holder of an easement misuses it, does the easement terminate?
In assessing an easement, who has a duty to make repairs?
In assessing a property law issue, how may a license become irrevocable?
What constitutes a valid easement by express grant?
What is an affirmative easement?
What is an easement?
What is an easement appurtenant?
What is an easement by prescription and how is it acquired?
What is an easement in gross?
What is a negative easement?
What is the difference between a license and an easement?
What is the result of a failed attempt to create an easement?
When does an easement by express reservation arise?
When does an easement by necessity arise?
When does an easement by necessity terminate?
When may an easement be implied without preexisting use?
When may existing use create an implied easement?
