easement-over easement limit-e/ment 4 one side

atlanta, georgia
there is a easment between my neighbor and myself. It gives them the right to go down their driveway to their garage which is on some of my land.The agreement says they can use the driveway to ingress and to egress-to come and go. They park on it-kids play on it.. The nieghbors say i have no right to use it-to carry my trashcan down , to have gutter cleaners park their truck there... Is this legal?Also-their maid comes 3 feet into my yard with her car when she is turning around- the female neighbor's car comes 2 feet or so into the yard... and they have made a 12 inch lane in my grass at the front of the driveway. just drive all in my yard and they do not care-they r attorneys.

2- is there such a thing as over the easment limits?Found paper in house left by the builder that said easement agreement over 1'2 feet-wasn't notorized or anything.. He built our house and made the easement between myself and the nieghbors.Could the neighbor's easement -part of it be voided for being over the easement limit...if that does exist? Please help me!!!!

[HomeGuru]

First you need to review your survey and easement documents to be sure you can verify who owns what and where the easement boundaries are. Then if you are positive that they are going onto your property that is not covered under that easement, you have recourse and a trespassing cause of action.

An easement is the right to use someone else's land for a specific purpose, in this case ingress and egress. You still own the land, but can not modify it such that your neighbor can no longer have ingress and egress. Hence, you have a right to use the land, but can not block your neighbors access to it. Using it to take your trash cans is probably not a problem, but parking a truck there would be blocking their access.
This brings up a second issue. Make sure you have the boundary clearly defined and hold them to it. DO NOT let them drive an inch on your property. The process of gradually taking possession of someone else's land is called encroachment. It may consist of a building, fence, driveway, etc. constructed over a boundary line. You as the owner can have it removed up to the boundary line and attempt to collect the cost of removal from the encroacher. But if it remains in that position for a certain period of time, the encroacher can claim title to the occupied piece of land by adverse possession. In order to acquire title to land under the doctrine of adverse possession, the use or possession must be hostile (i.e. no permission by you), open and notorious (visible use), and continuous for a statutory period of time, usually 20 years.
It may not be their intent to eventually claim title to parts of your land, but who knows what others may be planning.
Don't be intimidated by them, they may throw some legal mumbo jumbo at you...know your rights. Most lawyers prey on others who know less about what the laws are when it is to their benefit. No offense to any lawyers out there.
If you really hate your neighbors, tell them to fix the ruts on your property. But make sure you don't park any cars in their driveway.
For a driveway, a 12' easement is common, but easements come in all shapes and sizes. I don't know of an easement size limit. The owner of the land still gets paid for the size of easement taken on his property.