Věcné břemeno

Under Czech law

The Civil Code (Act No. 89/2012 Sb.) splits věcná břemena into servitudes (služebnosti, § 1257–§ 1302), where the owner must tolerate or refrain from something — a path across the land, a neighbour''s utility line, a right of habitation (§ 1297) — and real burdens (reálná břemena, § 1303–§ 1308), where the owner must actively do something. Created by contract, will, or decision, they bind the property itself once registered in the cadastre: every future owner takes subject to them.

Servitudes extinguish by agreement, by permanent change making the burdened use impossible (§ 1299), or by a court where a gross disproportion arises between the burden and the benefit (§ 1299 odst. 2) — a lever against ancient, pointless entries.

A practical example

A family buys a cottage cheap, overlooking the "služebnost bytu" entry on the extract: the seller''s mother holds a registered right to inhabit the ground floor for life. The right does not vanish with the sale — the buyers legally share the cottage with her. The price was low for a reason nobody explained and nobody asked about.

When you need a lawyer

Before buying burdened property (what exactly does the entry allow, and can it be extinguished or priced in?), when negotiating a servitude for access or utilities across a neighbour''s land, and in family transfers of property where parents should keep a registered right of habitation rather than an unenforceable promise.