Hillside Development Company v. Fields,

928 S.W.2d 886 (1996)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Carl Nelson owned property and constructed a house in 1967. The only public road providing access to the house was located on the south side of the property. The house was designed with a basement garage located on the north side of the house. This required a driveway that circled around the house to reach the garage. When Nelson died, he left his property to the Shriners Hospital. The Hospital subdivided the property and sold the unimproved land to Hillside (P); this included nearly all the land on which the driveway was located. The title documents clearly expressly reserved an easement for the use of the retained residential lot. The easement listed in the deed did not fully correspond with the location of the driveway. Shriners then sold the house to Fields (D). In 1992, P filed a suit against D for trespass and ejectment. D counterclaimed seeking a declaratory judgment that he had an implied easement across the disputed portion of the driveway. P got a summary judgment. D appealed.