Thousands stuck in legal turmoil after collapse of McClure Solicitors

Key Points

Solicitors WW&J McClure went bust in 2021 with around 20,000 Trusts on its books
Thousands of clients believe they were mis-sold legal products intended to make inheritance easier
A former employee says there wasn’t the right training in place
Families face paying thousands of pounds in legal fees to resolve the issue
The firm’s former managing director denies any wrongdoing

Thousands of people are suffering trying to untangle their finances after the demise of a Glasgow law firm.

When Lesley Pike’s parents got ill they paid £2,000 pounds to solicitors WW&J McClure to put their home into a Trust that could be passed down to her nephew.

Eight years later when he tried to sell the house, he had inherited from his loving grandparents they discovered the house wasn’t his to sell.

“This young estate agent chappie told us… they were doing their due diligence and told us we can’t sell it because it’s not yours to sell,” Lesley told STV News.

“It blew us out the water.”

Lesley is one of the thousands of people across Britain who have grappled with the fallout from the collapse of WW&J McClure in 2021.

STV News has heard from dozens of former clients of the firm struggling to extricate themselves from a Family Protection Trust they feel was mis-sold. STV News

For the last six months, STV News has heard from dozens of former clients of the firm struggling to extricate themselves from a Family Protection Trust they feel was mis-sold.

Lesley, who lives in Aberdeenshire, has spent months untangling the paperwork that her parents thought they had put in place to simplify the process of inheritance following their deaths. Instead, it has become a legal nightmare.

Through a trusted family financial advisor, her parents were sold a so-called Family Protection Trust in 2014 while her dad was in hospital.

What is a Family Protection Trust?

With a Trust, you have a greater say over who gets what, and a key selling point for McClure was that you could theoretically protect your house from being sold to pay for care home fees. 
The Trust, which behaves a bit like a company, is managed by trustees during your life and after you die – crucially it’s those trustees who have control. 
The Family Protection Trust was managed by Greenock-based WW & J McClure, a firm that specialised in selling the product. It was dealing with 400 new clients a month to set up the Family Protection Trust at its peak.
A key selling point for McClure was that if you put your house in the Trust, it would protect it from the local authority should you go into care.

When Lesley and her sister looked into it, they discovered that the trustees – who have control over the Trust – were two people they had never heard of.

When the house came to be sold, not only did the family have to retrieve ownership from the two McClure solicitors – both of whom charged a fee to be removed from the paperwork – Lesley also discovered that she was liable for tax on the property – despite being completely unaware it was even in a Trust.

Exclusive

Ex-employee says correct training wasn’t in place at scandal-hit law firm

Solicitors WW&J McClure went bust in 2021 with around 20,000 Trusts on its books.

“All the years, the eight years when we just got on with our lives, we never had any communication from McClure,” she said.

“There was nothing in place to show us what had gone on. We just found out through an estate agent, which is absurd.”

‘Sleepless nights, anxiety, depression’  

Thousands of people are suffering trying to untangle their finances after the demise of a Glasgow law firm WW&J McClure. STV News

“It has taken us thousands, and we don’t have that thousands, but it has taken us those thousands to do it, to get the family back on track because it has hit us all bad, financially as well as physically and mentally,” Lesley told STV News.

“It has been mind-blowing. Sleepless nights, anxiety, depression.”

Like Lesley, several former clients that spoke to STV News, was introduced to McClure and the idea of setting up a Family Protection Trust through a third party. These estate planning consultants would take instructions for free wills for charities, or through funeral planners and building societies.

In the absence of any formal investigation into McClure’s conduct, for now it is left to individuals who feel trapped in Family Trusts to search for answers.

“We have had to bring all that back, go back to what was happening when dad was in hospital, go back to when mum was struggling with the dementia, going in and out of hospital and doctors’ appointments and things because I was trying to establish officially when she was diagnosed with dementia, because McClure said she’s not been officially diagnosed, she can sign things,” Lesley told STV News.

“If she thought her husband was coming home for tea she was not capable, but they wanted official notification so we have had to get medical reports, we have had to read how sick my mum was,” she said.

Andrew Robertson, formerly managing director of WW&J McClure denies the allegations.

“We dispute that clients were misled to pay for a Trust,” he said.

“It was our responsibility to advise clients, but it was left to them to decide whether or not they wished to have a Trust.

“From 2019, each meeting with one of our consultants was recorded with the client’s consent so that management could monitor that no undue pressure was being brought to bear.

“No one is more disappointed that McClure became unsustainable due to Covid restrictions than me.”

Police Scotland have dropped an investigation into McClure – which campaigners accused of mis-selling and fraud in September last year.

“We can confirm information and documentation was received,” a spokesperson for the force said.

“It has been assessed and no criminality has been established. The complainers have been updated.”

A spokesperson for the Law Society of Scotland told STV News: “We have the greatest of sympathy for those who have been adversely affected by the collapse of McClure Solicitors and will continue to provide information on how people can seek redress.

“Scottish legislation defines our role, which is to investigate complaints against individual solicitors around their conduct. Service complaints are investigated directly by the SLCC, while conduct investigations are carried out by our professional conduct team.

“We take every appropriate measure to meet our regulatory obligations, which includes investigating conduct complaints we receive as per the statutory process.”