Zaher v. Miotke

The question presented in this case is whether an easement is void ab initio or merely subject to a lien-type interest when the male owner of a servient estate violates the statute of frauds by granting an easement without securing his wife’s waiver of her then inchoate dower interest. Consistent with longstanding precedent of the Michigan Supreme Court, an inchoate dower interest is an encumbrance on a husband’s property that can be valued. Therefore, a purchaser who takes land subject to such an encumbrance can be recompensed without invalidating the conveyance.

In this case, defendant is…