Corin & Anor v Patton

This matter concerned an application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia. The applicant, Mr Corin, sought to overturn decisions of the courts below concerning the attempted severance of a joint tenancy. The dispute arose from a transaction where the joint tenant, Mrs Corin, attempted to convey her legal estate to an outside trustee and her equitable estate back to herself.

The central legal issues before the High Court were whether Mrs Corin's attempted conveyance of her equitable estate to herself was a complete and effective severance of the joint tenancy, and whether the principles applicable to imperfect gifts were the correct framework for determining the completeness of such a transaction. The courts below had found the transaction to be incomplete, partly by reference to the law of imperfect gifts and the absence of valuable consideration.

The applicant argued that the Conveyancing Act, which permits a person to convey to themselves, necessitated a different approach than that applied to imperfect gifts. It was submitted that a conveyance of a legal estate held in joint tenancy to oneself effects a severance at law, and logically, a conveyance in equity of an interest in joint tenancy to oneself should effect a severance in equity. The applicant contended that the real purpose of the transaction was to sever the joint tenancy, which was achieved by the conveyance of the equitable estate to herself, and that the inability to recall the transaction was irrelevant if it was sufficient to achieve severance. The High Court considered the nature of the equitable estate Mrs Corin was dealing with, which derived from her registered interest as the proprietor.