Conservation & Preservation Easements

Charleston, South Carolina, Attorneys: Conservation Easements

Charleston is an historic city, with beautiful buildings and houses over 200 years old. As development progresses, however, more and more of these buildings are lost forever, while at the same time we are losing more and more of our pristine farmland to development. For this reason, there has been a movement among the owners of such property in working to preserve it through conservation easements and preservation easements.

If you are interested in preserving your property against development, contact Pritchard & Elliott online or call (843) 722-3300 to schedule an appointment to discuss this complex legal process.

How Do Easements Work?

There are two different types of easement:

• Conservation easements, meant for conserving undeveloped land — including farmland — for future use
• Preservation easements, meant for preserving buildings and other structures that have important historical significance

Both types of easement work in relatively the same way. That is, owners of the land or building who wish to ensure that their property is preserved in perpetuity may do so by selling or donating the appropriate type of easement from the property. Essentially, owners sell their own right to make significant changes on the property to an historic trust foundation or preservation society.

This actually decreases the value of the property (because owners are prevented from making profitable "improvements"), and so landowners often see their property taxes decrease after selling the conservation easement. When the landowner sells the property, the foundation retains the easement, and therefore the property's new owner has no right to make certain changes to the property. In return, the new owner pays a lower price for the property and also has lower property taxes than he or she otherwise might.

Conservation easements are an effective, exciting way to make sure your historic or pristine property is preserved for future generations to enjoy. For more information, contact Pritchard & Elliott online or call Pritchard & Elliott. We'll be happy to schedule an appointment.