Written by: Virginia has significantly expanded a landowner’s ability to relocate or modify an easement crossing their property, even without the easement holder’s agreement. Effective July 1, 2026, an amendment to Virginia Code § 55.1-304 removes two of the biggest obstacles that previously stood in the way: the law used to apply only to ingress and egress easements, and only after the easement had been in place for at least ten years. Both of those limitations are gone.
Under the prior law, a landowner seeking to move an easement without consent had to petition the circuit court and show that relocation would not cause economic damage or undue hardship to the parties involved — a standard that gave courts significant discretion and left many landowners with easements they simply couldn’t touch until a decade had passed. The amended statute replaces that approach with a more specific set of protections for the easement holder: relocation or modification is permitted so long as it does not materially reduce the easement’s usefulness, increase the burden on the person using it, interfere with its purpose, compromise anyone’s safety, unreasonably disrupt use during the work, or diminish the value of the property the easement benefits. The landowner seeking the change still bears the costs of relocation, though not the other side’s attorney’s fees.
This is a meaningful shift for property owners, developers, and anyone whose land is encumbered by an easement that no longer fits how the property is used. Easements that once felt permanent — because they were too new to qualify for relocation, or because they weren’t tied to a driveway or access road — may now be candidates for relocation or modification, either by negotiated written agreement or, if necessary, through a court petition. That said, the statute carves out important exceptions: public utility and public service corporation easements, conservation and open-space easements, telecommunications easements, and easements held by government entities remain off-limits.
If you own property burdened by an easement, or you hold (or are in the process of negotiating) an easement over someone else’s land and want to understand how this change affects your rights, we’d be glad to talk through your specific situation and what options this new law may open up.