Legal Aid

We have a contract with the Legal Services Commission (The LSC). This means that we can work for clients under legal aid.

Non-Means and Non-Merits

If you have parental responsibility for a child and the Local Authority are applying for a Care Order or a Supervision Order, you will be entitled to Legal Aid without having to pay any money towards it.

Means and Merits Tested

For most family law cases, you will have to satisfy a merits test. In other words, you case must be one where a reasonable person of modest means would think it worth spending their own money pursuing. Also, unless it is an emergency, the LSC will normally expect you to have at least tried to resolve your dispute through mediation before wishing to apply to the court.

In addition there is a means test and you must fully disclose all of your financial circumstances. It is possible that you will be asked to make a financial contribution towards your Legal Aid from capital or you may have to make a monthly payment from your income throughout the duration for your case.

Legal Aid is not free and if you recover or preserve any money, property or investment as a result of your case or our advice, you will have to pay back the amount of your legal fees and expenses from this money. Any financial contributions that you have made will be taken into account when calculating how much you owe to the LSC.

Do I Qualify?

We offer a free initial appointment on all areas of family law during the course of which we can assess your eligibility for Legal Aid. If you do not qualify, we can give you an estimate of how much it is likely to cost you to pursue your matter on private rates.