A BEREAVED Greenock man who had to reclaim his late parents' house from a trust fund set up through the former McClure's Solicitors has told how the whole saga has cost almost £10,000.

Peter Watt faced a long process to get ownership of the house out of the hands of solicitors following the death of his dad two years ago.

After getting the ex-council house in John Wilson Street back from the Family Protection Trust, Peter says the whole process has cost £8,000 all in.

Peter is part of the Victims of McClure's Action Group, set up to help tens of thousands of people affected by the collapse of the Greenock-based solicitors in 2021.

Peter, from Leitch Street, said: "It's hard to explain the impact this has had on me. It's been a traumatic experience from start to finish.

"My dad had been ill for a long time and I'd cared for him since my mum died in 2018. On top of losing my dad and all the grief, I found myself facing a fight to get their house back.

"It's in my name now, but in total solicitors have taken £8,000 - first to set the trust up and then to get it back. That's a lot of money, and for what?"

When Peter's dad died in April 2022, he set about trying to sort his estate.

He said: "I'd no idea their house was in a trust. I knew they had a will with McClure's. I found out from my mortgage advisor that McClure had went bust and was told to phone another firm of solicitors, Jones & Whyte, who'd taken on all the work.

"When I did they told me it would cost me £900 up front for them to do anything."

Peter says he discovered his mum and dad's house had been in a trust since 2013. Trusts are sold by solicitors as a way of people protecting assets as they get older. Peter says he had to pay nearly £4,000 to relinquish the trust, on top of the £4,000 his parents had spent to put it there in the first place.

He added: "I couldn't believe I even had to pay a direct fee to a former McClure's director £150 to take her name off the trust. Fees just kept coming. My parents would never have wanted me to have to pay so much to get the house back."

After McClure's ceased trading in 2021 administrators transferred all their trusts, documents and client money to Jones & Whyte. On their website Jones & Whyte state a total of 18,840 Family Protection Trusts were in place at the point of administration.

In April 2022, after his dad died, Peter made contact with Jones & Whyte and started the process to get the trust relinquished.

He says he made a formal complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission against Jones & Whyte because of the costs to release the house and time taken. The case ended up going to mediation and Peter received compensation.

He said: "The whole thing is a disgrace and the blame for my situation rests squarely with McClure's. There is a lot of anger, people want justice. I've paid my money to get the house back from the trust so it's too late for me. But it is not right what we're all having to go through and the costs we are paying. I hope there's an inquiry and McClure's are held to account for all this."

A former director of McClure's told the Tele they weren't in a position to discuss individual cases because of client confidentiality rules.

They added: “Trusts remain a good option for many families and with appropriate legal advice, the fact that McClure no longer exists does not affect the effectiveness of a trust.

"Whilst client files are held by Jones Whyte LLP (the firm that acquired the files of McClure Solicitors from administration), clients are free to choose any solicitor for work related to their trusts.

“Sadly, the firm’s administration has meant that making changes to trustees and ongoing administration of their trusts will result in legal costs that were not foreseen at the time of instruction.

"This is deeply regrettable and we have every sympathy for former clients in that position, however it is due to the fact that the firm, sadly like many others, did not survive the extreme trading pressures of Covid. As the firm no longer trades, there is no way to support former clients, so they unfortunately need to seek future legal support elsewhere at their cost.”

Jones & Whyte said: "To date – through a combination of responding to or proactively reaching out to clients – we have taken some form of action on approximately 10,000 Family Protection Trust files.

"This has included carrying out any necessary legal work on behalf of former clients of McClure or facilitating the transfer of client deeds and documentation to other solicitors. Whilst we are happy to assist any former clients of McClure, like any other law firm or business, we do require to charge for the work we do.

"Whilst we understand how frustrating this will be, it is the unfortunate reality when a company goes out of business."