McClure solicitors collapse: Families ‘thousands out of pocket’

McClure Solicitors was founded in 1853 in Greenock

Clients of a law firm have said they are in a "legal nightmare" almost three years after it went out of business.

McClure solicitors had tens of thousands of clients across Britain.

Its collapse in 2021 meant some people with homes in trusts struggled to sell them while others spent thousands of pounds in legal costs.

A former director at McClure said it was an ethical business and the Solicitors Regulation Authority said it was "looking into complaints".

'Used'

Jan Brunton, 70, paid £3,000 to set up a trust with Scotland-based solicitors McClure in early 2020, putting £10,000 into it along with her Newcastle home, which she said was worth £180,000.

It was a desperate attempt to "get her life in order" because she was seriously ill with ovarian cancer.

Jan initially met a McClure advisor at Maggie's cancer charity in Newcastle, to help with will writing.

But during a later appointment at her home, she was approached about opening a trust.

She said: "I didn't even know what a trust was. They [McClure] mentioned the trust, not me.

"I felt as though I'd been used, that they had pushed for this trust to be set up for me."

Ms Brunton thought a trust would make her daughter's life easier

Maggie's said it was "deeply shocking" and was "not aware" McClure was offering trusts "as that did not form part of our agreement".

Some people put property into trusts believing it would prevent their homes being sold to pay for care home fees.

"I was told it protected my house," said Ms Brunton, who lived alone after the death of her husband.

After McClure went into administration, law firm Jones Whyte took on its files and Ms Brunton said she paid the company £300 to review her trust because of what it called "systematic issues" affecting many of them.

McClure solicitors are still named as trustees on Ms Brunton's house, so she legally does not own it and cannot sell it.

Ms Brunton, who is still receiving cancer treatment, had been quoted £1,500 by Jones Whyte to resolve the issue.

She did not pay it and is seeking advice from another law firm.

Jones Whyte said: "There is no situation in which a law firm could carry out this work free of charge."

'Sham'

Paul Pygott, from Barnsley, said his mother, Ivy Pygott, was left with thousands of pounds worth of care home fees after a council accused her McClure trust of being a "sham".

Mr Pygott helped his mother open a trust with McClure and said his parents were told "everything that went into the trust would be ring-fenced against care home fees".

In 2019, his mother went into a nursing home for full-time care.

They told Leeds City Council about the trust, and they thought everything was being paid for by the council for the next "12 to 15 months", Mr Pygott said.

But, in October 2020, they got a call from the council saying they would not pay any of the care home fees.

"They [the council] believed that the trust was a 'sham' set up purely and simply to avoid paying council care home fees."

"I was suddenly staring at a bill in excess of £26,000," he said.

Mr Pygott said his mother unexpectedly received care home bills worth thousands of pounds

Mr Pygott said he asked if the trust was legal and above board in his first meeting with McClure.

"They said 'yes it definitely is because it's run by solicitors, with years and years of experience'," he said.

He added: "I felt as if I was letting my parents down.

"She's never owed a penny in her life and as soon as it becomes my responsibility to settle her affairs, she's suddenly got a bill higher than she's ever had in her life."

Ivy Pygott died aged 91, in 2020.

McClure said: "This is most unfortunate. Avoiding care cost is never a reason for a trust but it can be a by-product.

"The trust is not a sham trust. The assets in the trust are nearly always protected against a claim by the local authority.

"It seems to me that either they did not get any advice or the advice they got was wrong. It seems to me that they paid when they did not need to."

'Ethical business'

Former McClure director Andrew Robertson said the trust "was and remains a good service" and the fact McClure no longer exists "does not affect the trust".

He said the firm "never targeted the elderly or vulnerable" and "never approached clients".

Mr Robertson said it is "not correct that many trusts had issues" and that clients "should not fear that money has been wasted".

On the subject of people struggling to sell their parents' homes he said that, on occasion, the reason was that "the agents dealing with the sale have failed to contact the trustees at the outset".

Jones Whyte said: "Our rates are comparable and often cheaper than other legal firms in the Private Client market.

"Should they not wish to instruct us they can instruct another firm of Solicitors. If they do so we pass our file of papers to them, for free.

"We are regulated by the Law Society in Scotland and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England. Both of which are aware of the background to the collapse of McClure; the work we are doing to try and help following this and both Regulators support this."

The Solicitors Regulation Authority, which regulates law firms in England and Wales, is investigating the McClure collapse.

It said: "We can take action if we find evidence that solicitors or regulated law firms have fallen short of the high professional standards the public expect."