A practical guide for landowners, buyers, and heirs in land, farm, and timber transactions.
Every year in Acadiana and across Louisiana timberlands, buyers discover the property they seek has no access to a public road. While Louisiana law protects landowners from being completely cut off from access, that legal right alone is often not enough to satisfy a lender, title company, or buyer. To be meaningful at the closing table, access should be evidenced by a recorded servitude, judgment, or other instrument filed in the parish conveyance records.
Legal Mechanisms
1. Conventional Servitude (LA CC Arts. 650, 697- 699, 705-707, 735-739)
A conventional servitude is the most common - and preferred - path to establishing legal access to landlocked property. It is created through a written agreement between neighboring landowners that grants a right of passage across one property for the benefit of another. The parties negotiate the location, scope, and terms of access, reduce the agreement to writing, and record it in the parish conveyance records. Unlike a court-ordered right of way, a conventional servitude gives the landowners significant control over where the access road will be located and under what conditions it may be used. Once properly recorded, the servitude “runs with the land” and remains binding on the future owners of both properties, ensuring that access survives even after either property is sold.
2. Forced Right of Way — Passage by Necessity (LA CC Arts. 689–696, 708)
If negotiations fail, Louisiana law allows the owner of the landlocked property to obtain a right of passage across the neighboring property along the shortest practical route to the nearest public road. This right, however, does not come without costs - fair market value must be paid for the land to be used for passage.
While this remedy can provide a solution, it is rarely the preferred one. Obtaining a forced right of way requires filing suit in the district court where the property is located. The court - not the landowners - then determines the location of the access route, the amount of compensation owed, and the terms of passage. The resulting judgment is then recorded in the parish conveyance records. Because litigation is often expensive, time-consuming, and unpredictable, a negotiated servitude is usually a far better outcome for everyone involved.
Importantly, the right to force passage is not absolute. If a property became landlocked because of a voluntary act of a prior owner - such as a sale, partition, or transfer that eliminated access - the neighboring landowners may not be obligated to provide passage. For this reason, it is critical that your title company determine when and how the property became enclosed. A thorough title examination can identify potential exceptions before they become obstacles to closing.
3. Servitude by Waterway (LA RS § 9:1254)
In rare circumstances, a landlocked property may obtain access by water rather than by road. Louisiana law provides that when enclosed property is bordered by a navigable waterway that crosses neighboring land, the property owner may have the right to use that waterway for access. To qualify, the waterway must connect to a publicly navigable body of water and be reasonably safe for travel. As with a land-based right of passage, the property owner may be responsible for compensating neighboring landowners for any damages resulting from its use.
This mechanism is highly fact-specific. Before relying on water access as a solution, confirm legal navigability with a Louisiana attorney.
4. Acquisitive Prescription of a Servitude (LA CC Arts. 742, 3473, 3475-3476, 3486)
In rare cases, a right of passage can be acquired through long-term use rather than a written agreement. Louisiana law allows certain visible, or "apparent," servitudes—such as established roads, driveways, or paths—to be acquired through acquisitive prescription when they have been used openly, continuously, and without interruption for a sufficient period of time.
Generally, a servitude may be acquired after 10 years of possession when the user reasonably believed they had a legal right to use it, or after 30 years regardless of that belief. These claims often arise when a roadway has existed and been used for decades, but no recorded servitude can be found in the public records.
While acquisitive prescription can provide a solution to an access problem, it is not automatic. The existence and extent of the servitude typically must be established through a court proceeding, and the resulting judgment should be recorded in the parish conveyance records to protect future owners and ensure marketable title.
The Bottom Line
Louisiana law provides remedies for landlocked property, but those rights are often complex and subject to important exceptions. More importantly, access rights have little value in a real estate transaction unless they are properly documented and recorded in the parish conveyance records.
Do not rely on the former owner’s handshake deal with the neighbor. If the access right cannot be verified in the public records, it will not only kill your closing - but it will also kill your financing. Banks rarely lend on landlocked property. When they do, expect a materially higher down payment at minimum.
Make sure your title company understands how to identify potential access issues early and cure them before you get to the closing table.
This article is published for informational purposes by Vermilion Title and reflects general principles of Louisiana real property law as codified in the Louisiana Civil Code. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Contact the licensed Louisiana attorneys at Vermilion Title for analysis of your specific transaction.
