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Joyce Gifford, a 72-year-old woman from Cornwall, was distressed to find that her name had been removed from the legal ownership of her home after it was transferred into a so-called “family protection trust.” Initially, in 2018, she and her husband, who was seriously ill at the time, agreed to place their house into this trust through McClure solicitors. They were told this move would safeguard the property from being sold to cover care fees and ensure it could be passed down to their children. However, Mrs. Gifford only became aware in 2023—two years after McClure, the Scottish firm behind the trust, went bankrupt and following her husband’s death—that she was no longer the registered owner of her house.
Trusts like the one set up by Mrs. Gifford are sometimes utilized as tools to manage assets such as property and money. People often hope these trusts will help protect their homes from being sold to pay for care costs. Yet local authorities may interpret such arrangements as an attempt to conceal assets, a practice legally deemed “deprivation of assets,” which can be challenged. Mrs. Gifford says she did not fully understand these consequences when she entered into the trust agreement. The decision arose after McClure representatives suggested they take advantage of a free will service offered by the firm. During a visit to their home, they were urged to place their property into a trust, which cost them £4,486. The pitch emphasized that this would prevent the council from claiming the house in the event of future care home admission, securing a legacy for their children. Mrs. Gifford believes they were reassured that this was a lawful and effective way to avoid means testing by the local council.
It was only by chance during a bank visit in 2022 that Mrs. Gifford learned about McClure’s insolvency. Subsequently, she discovered that her and her husband’s names had been removed from the property deeds and replaced by the trust corporation—Ww & J McClure Trust Corporation Limited. She says she was never advised that creating the trust would transfer legal ownership from them to the trustees, turning her into a mere beneficiary rather than the owner. The stress and anxiety caused by this revelation have been overwhelming for Mrs. Gifford. She recalls feeling “sick” and struggling to find a way forward, describing her ongoing distress, “I cried and cried… I still can’t sleep now.” Throughout this ordeal, she credits her dog with providing some emotional support.
In response to these concerns, Andrew Robertson, a former director of McClure, firmly denies that the trust was mis-sold, saying, “None of our consultants coerced the clients.” He points out that the clients willingly signed agreements transferring ownership to the trustees and describes the trust as a “good product.” However, other experts highlight the complexities involved with these kinds of trusts. Jade Gani, chair of the Association of Lifetime Lawyers, explains that asset protection trusts are generally ineffective for shielding assets from inheritance tax or care fees due to existing rules that can recapture such assets into an estate. She notes that while trusts can be useful in specific cases, they come with “tax complexities.” In Scotland, police investigated McClure but determined that “no criminality was established.”
Other individuals have faced similar difficulties following their use of McClure trusts. Lee Jackson, from Truro, who paid around £5,000 for a trust after being warned about inheritance tax and potential loss of his family home, ended up losing £12,000 including legal fees dissolving the arrangement. Mc
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