What are the requirements for the burden of equitable servitude?

The requirements for establishing the burden of an equitable servitude focus on four essential elements: intent, notice, touch, and concern.

Intent refers to the original parties' intention to create a servitude that would bind future owners. This indicates that the parties explicitly wanted the restrictions or duties to apply to successors in interest.

Notice involves ensuring that future owners are aware of the servitude. This can be through actual notice, constructive notice, or inquiry notice. The idea is that successors should be able to ascertain the existence of the servitude, which reinforces the principle of protecting the expectations of those who enter the property.

Touch and concern is a legal concept that determines if the servitude affects the use and enjoyment of the burdened property. Essentially, for the servitude to be enforceable against successors, it must "touch and concern" the land itself, benefiting the dominant estate while restricting the use of the servient estate in a way that has a direct impact on the property’s value or use.

These elements collectively ensure that equitable servitudes are respected and enforced consistently, providing clarity and predictability in land use dynamics.