In Cassegrain v Gerard Cassegrain & Co Pty Ltd [2015] HCA 2, the High Court partially reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision, altering the understanding of how fraud impacts property titles within the Torrens system. At the center of the dispute was the Dairy Farm property transferred from Gerard Cassegrain & Co Pty Ltd to Claude and Felicity Cassegrain. The critical issue was whether Felicity Cassegrain’s title to the property, initially acquired jointly with Claude and then solely, was defeasible due to Claude's fraudulent actions. The High Court held that Felicity's title, as acquired jointly with Claude, was not defeasible on account of the fraud committed by Claude, because the fraud had not been "brought home" to Felicity directly. However, the title she derived from Claude through a subsequent transfer was held defeasible since it was obtained from someone who had engaged in fraud, thus allowing the company to recover a half interest in the property.
Full text: https://jade.io/article/365436
From the TLDR Caselaw Archive