The South Carolina Supreme Court recently ruled in Simmons v. Berkeley Electric, Op. No. 27674 (S.C. Sup. Ct. filed November 2, 2016) and clarified how a prescriptive easement is established. The Court laid out the test for a prescriptive easement: "In order to establish a prescriptive easement, the claimant must identify the thing enjoyed, and show his use has been open, notorious, continuous, uninterrupted, and contrary to the true property owner's rights for a period of twenty years." This ruling helps clarify the elusive third element and provides guidance for courts in deciding cases where one party claims a right to use another's property.
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