Willard v. First Church of Christ, Scientist, 7 Cal. 3d 473, 498 P.2d 987, 102 Cal. Rptr. 739 (Cal. 1972)
Willard v. First Church of Christ, Scientist is a landmark California Supreme Court decision that modernized the law of easements by rejecting the technical common-law rule that a grantor cannot reserve an interest in a deed for a third party (a so-called stranger to the deed).
May a grantor, by reservation in a deed, create an easement over the conveyed land in favor of a third party (here, a church), enforceable against the grantee and subsequent purchasers with notice?
Modern California law gives effect to a grantor's clearly expressed intent in a deed and permits a reservation creating an easement in favor of a third party; the common-law rule barring reservations to a stranger to the deed is abolished. A recorded reservation gives constructive notice under the recording statutes and is enforceable against subsequent purchasers who take with actual or constructive notice. The appurtenant-or-in-gross classification turns on whether the easement benefits a particular parcel (appurtenant) or a person/entity independent of land ownership (in gross), but the method of creation via reservation is valid in either case.
Yes. The California Supreme Court rejected the common-law prohibition and held that a grantor may reserve an easement in favor of a third party in a deed. The reserved parking easement in favor of the church was valid and enforceable against Willard, who purchased with notice.
For law students, Willard is a doctrinal pivot point. It: (1) abolishes the formalistic stranger-to-the-deed rule, signaling courts' turn toward intent and notice in conveyancing; (2) illustrates how easements can be tailored in scope (church hours) and duration (terminating if church use ceases); (3) highlights the relationship between servitudes and recording/notice principles; and (4) frames the appurtenant-versus-in-gross inquiry as distinct from the question of valid creation. On exams, Willard supports arguments that a deed's clear language reserving rights to someone other than the grantor or grantee should be enforced, especially when purchasers had notice and pricing reflected the burden.