Louisiana Notary Practice Exam 2025 - Free Notary Practice Questions and Study Guide

A personal servitude represents a charge on a servient estate that is established for the benefit of a dominant estate. In property law, a personal servitude allows one party (the beneficiary or holder of the servitude) to use or benefit from the property owned by another party (the owner of the servient estate). This kind of arrangement is crucial in clarifying that the servient estate bears an obligation or encumbrance that serves the needs of the dominant estate.

In the context of servitudes, personal servitudes can include rights such as usufruct, where one individual has the right to use and enjoy the benefits of another's property without owning it. However, it is specifically the nature of personal servitude that distinguishes it as a charge benefiting a dominant estate, as it is typically granted to a specific individual and does not necessarily transfer with the land itself.

Usufruct, while it shares similarities with personal servitude, is a type of personal servitude. Therefore, it does not solely represent a charge but rather a specific form within that category. Leasehold arrangements pertain to rental agreements and do not function in the same way as servitudes since they involve a temporary transfer of possession rather than a permanent charge on the servient