Paving Easement or Right of Way

[Will Shoemaker]

I have an easement that is on the majority of another property owners land. To access my land there is a paved road that ends when the last house is. The road then becomes gravel. The other side of the easement accesses a main road and should be utilized. The easement agreement says all can maintain the road. The road is gravel and has brush on the sides. I took an excavator through it to access my land but my intent is to pave it. How should I go about paving this? the property owner has many lots and has been divorced for 10 years, his ex wife and him are still on the name on the land. He is a local company president and is not easy to contact. 

[Matt Devincenzo]

The question is does the agreement also state how/when costs are shared? Typically I see a statement included to the effect (paraphrasing here): "any owner can provide 30 day notice of proposed repair/maintenance/improvement and then any other owner can respond. If no response is received then work may commence and billing to be proportionally allocated to each owner".

The practical consideration is you likely need to follow that, and then if there's no positive response you need to pursue in court. Either for reimbursement if after the fact, or to force participation if prior. The devil's in the details with these types of issues...and local law may also dictate that they need to share costs, but again court is your solution without cooperation...