When Retirement is not Golden: A Classic Torrens Tale with Twists and Turns. The Value of a Risk Analysis Approach

Abstract

This article traces almost a decade of litigation involving a retired couple who were lured into a scam that involved their unencumbered property in a seaside town in New Zealand. Its primary focus is on the importance of planning complex land transfer litigation, the end point of which will likely involve state compensation for an aggrieved original registered proprietor who has suffered deprivation (full or partial) of land or an estate or interest in land or who has sustained loss or damage by the wrongful inclusion of land in a title, and is barred by the operation of the Land Transfer Act 1952 (NZ) from bringing an action for possession or recovery of that land, estate or interest. The article promotes a simple fiscal risk analysis approach.