Michael B. McGarry

I left school at 16 and trained in Darlington and Barnard Castle as a Legal Executive. I moved to Hawes to practice in 1997 and became a Partner in Richard Johnson & Partners on qualifying as a Solicitor in 2004.

In 2011 I established McGarry & Co in Barnard Castle, quickly re-opening an office in Hawes in 2012. Clients have been kind to me and with effort the business has expanded, opening an office in Sedbergh in 2015 and following this up by opening an office in Leyburn in October 2017.

I am probably a dying breed of a general practitioner. I handle a wide variety of matters including Wills, powers of attorney, trusts and administration of estates, commercial property matters, agricultural land issues, business advice and Court of Protection deputyships amongst other things.

I enjoy the variety of work which allows me to advise clients across generations. It is nice (but worrying because of the passage of time) to realise that I am now acting for the grandchildren of grandparents I acted for in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I believe in providing a professional service but in a friendly and approachable way. This is the ethos which I try to instil throughout my firm.

I was an early member of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners back in 1994 and I am a member of Solicitors for the Elderly. I am one of the Northern Panel Deputies appointed by the Court of Protection for people who have lost their mental capacity and who have no-one to take things on or if problems arise with either deputyship or in respect of Lasting Powers of Attorney.

Outside of the office (what little time is available) I enjoy spending as much time as I can with my family, three growing children.

Located at: Barnard Castle, Sedbergh & Hawes.