If the owner of the dominant tenement also becomes the owner of the servient tenement, what happens to the easement?

When the owner of the dominant tenement, which is the property that benefits from the easement, acquires ownership of the servient tenement, which is the property that is burdened by the easement, the easement is typically terminated. This legal principle is based on the concept that an easement is granted for the benefit of one property over another. If the same person owns both properties, the necessity for the easement no longer exists, as there is no longer a distinction between the dominant and servient tenements.

This termination occurs because the easement's purpose is to provide a benefit which becomes moot when the two properties are united under single ownership. Essentially, the two properties merge into one, rendering the easement linkage superfluous.

While the option stating that the easement is dormant could suggest that the right is temporarily inactive, and the idea that it remains unaffected would imply continuity, both interpretations fail to recognize that ownership consolidation effectively nullifies the operational need for the easement. Similarly, stating that the properties retain their former status would imply a continued separation that simply does not apply once ownership changes hands. The clear outcome is that the easement is extinguished due to the merger of the properties involved.