If you are unable to get legal help, you may want to ask for free advice from: This guide will help you understand if legal aid is available for the type of family law case you are facing. If so, it explains the tests you must pass to be eligible for legal aid. The Court of Justice has the power to grant free legal aid and is only available to a person accused of a criminal offence. Legal aid cannot be applied to persons bringing private proceedings. To calculate whether you qualify for legal advice for financial reasons, there is an online calculator here. Legal aid can help cover the costs of legal advice, family mediation and representation in court. You can also pay for advice from a legal advisor or local lawyer. You can search for a free legal aid clinic on the LawWorks website – it also has information about other organizations that may be able to help you. Legal aid is paid on a lawyer`s flat fee or fee for your case. There are different types of legal aid: if your case falls within one of these areas, you can benefit from legal aid and you must seek advice from a lawyer who specialises in this area. The Legal Aid Agency has a “Check if you are eligible for legal aid” tool on its website, which can also be used to indicate whether a case is eligible for legal aid, although this is not always very clear.
Even if you think your case is not listed above, or if the Legal Aid Agency website doesn`t seem to indicate that legal aid is available, it`s always best to check with a legal aid lawyer to see if it is. You can identify lawyers in your area by using the search function on the Law Society`s Find a Lawyer website, and you can search for organizations offering legal aid on the gov.uk website. Most family matters are means-tested; You must therefore prove that you cannot afford to pay the legal fees. You must provide information about your and your partner`s income, benefits, savings, property and shares. Your insurers may insist that you use their legal team. If you have your own lawyer, they can tell you if they can act for you under your insurance policy. Legal aid can help you be represented in court in civil matters in three ways. If your case is criminal, you should ask your lawyer if you can get legal help. Once you leave the police station, any legal aid you may receive is based on your income. In some cases, you can get legal aid regardless of your financial resources.
Legal aid without means test is possible if your child has been the subject of a care or supervision procedure. You may be eligible for legal aid for certain injunctions, such as a non-harassment order, but you may need to contribute. Your application for legal aid in criminal matters must be submitted to the Court of Justice. You must inform the Court of Justice of your finances. You will automatically receive legal aid for legal representation in court if you are under 16 (or under 18 and in full-time education) or if you receive certain benefits. If you have joined an organization such as a trade union, they can offer you free legal assistance. Or you can get help with legal fees under another subscription, insurance policy, or credit card agreement. Tell us here what you think of our legal information You are entitled to free legal advice if you are questioned at a police station. There are a number of reasons why people in need of civil legal aid may currently find it difficult to access it. We are working to improve access to legal aid by improving knowledge about the availability of legal aid and removing barriers to access where it exists. We have compiled a range of information and resources for individuals and consultants to determine where legal aid may be available and how to access it. Talk to your steward or workplace representative, or contact your union`s head office to see if they can give you free legal help.
If you are refused legal aid, you can ask for the decision to be reviewed. Since this guide was written, changes have been made to the rules. If your case is serious and you can`t afford your legal fees, legal aid can pay some or all of those costs. The decision to grant you legal aid is made by the legal aid organization. If you have to pay contributions to the costs of your case, you must pay them to your lawyer. The court`s decision to grant legal aid depends on your financial situation. The Court will have to agree that it is in the interests of justice that you receive legal aid for your case. You should contact Civil Legal Advice or a legal aid lawyer directly. The lawyer must apply for funding from the legal aid agency. You may be asked to submit documents to the legal aid agency within certain time frames. If the application is accepted, the Legal Aid Agency will issue a legal aid certificate indicating the amount of money that can be spent on your case and the type of legal aid you have been granted. Find out if you can get legal help for help in civil matters.
Your legal counsel will usually seek legal help on your behalf. The Legal Aid Agency only grants legal aid to persons who meet the eligibility criteria. This means that if you apply for legal aid that falls within the scope or the FEC, you will need to provide information about your financial situation. This includes details of your income, your savings, whether or not you own your home, whether you have a mortgage and whether you are receiving a pension, and whether there are people who are financially dependent on you. If you have a partner, you must also provide information about their finances. When determining whether or not you qualify for legal aid, the Legal Aid Agency will look at your disposable income (the money you have left after paying basic living expenses) and your available capital (savings, real estate, investments or valuables that you could use or sell to pay for a lawyer). A free or scheduled appointment can help you learn about your rights and legal situation. This is a good way to find out if it`s worth taking someone else to court or if you have a case worth defending. If you have been arrested and questioned at a police station, you can find out about your right to free legal advice for GOV.UK – regardless of your income. To be eligible for legal aid, which falls within the scope or the ECF, you usually need to be able to prove that your case is sufficiently strong. This can be described as the case that meets the “merit criteria”. The strength of your case depends on the type of legal advice you need.
For example, to get legal advice and take your case without going to court or tribunal, it must be appropriate for the government to fund the lawyer`s work, with the cost of doing so outweighed by the benefits you will receive. However, to get legal aid for legal representation, you must meet a higher threshold. In many cases, the test will be whether you have at least as much chance of winning your case as you are of losing. If you have a legal aid lawyer, they will tell you if your case is strong enough to provide legal help for the work to be done. The decision to grant you legal aid under this scheme is made by the Legal Services Agency of Northern Ireland. If you have to pay contributions to the costs of your case, you must pay them to the legal aid organization.
