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Help with legal costs
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Updated 12 August 2008
The following is only a general guide to the help available for legal costs. Your solicitor or other legal adviser can give you more information as to how these rules apply to your particular case and help with your application.
For information about whether you qualify financially and if you need to make a contribution towards legal costs, see the table under Financial eligibility for legal aid and the Legal Aid Calculator on the Community Legal Advice website. See further help and information for contact details for both these organisations.
It is important to note that you may have to repay any help with legal costs you receive from public funding if you recover or keep any property or money. See Do I have to repay any of the help I receive for legal costs? for which schemes this applies to.
In order to get help for legal costs through public funding, which is still commonly known as Legal Aid, you will need to see a legal adviser who has a Community Legal Service contract. There are different levels of funding available under different schemes, depending on what your legal costs are for. You can move from one scheme to another depending on your circumstances and how much work needs to be done on your case.
The different types of help available
Legal Help
This is for initial advice and assistance with your legal problem and is the first stage of Legal Aid. The kind of help available varies but may include written and verbal advice, help in making a will (but only for clients in certain circumstances, such as lone parents who wish to appoint a guardian or parents who want to make provision for a child with a disability) and negotiating on your behalf. The work and other expenses cannot usually exceed £500 (or £1,000 in immigration and asylum cases). You will not have to pay a contribution towards the cost of this scheme from either your capital or income.
Help at Court
This covers the costs of a solicitor or adviser speaking on your behalf at a court hearing. This is different to the representation that you would need if you are making or defending a claim. You may need this help if, for example, issues to do with the children are not dealt with as part of divorce proceedings or because you are applying to the court to suspend a warrant for possession of your home. The costs cannot usually exceed £500 (or £1,000 in immigration and asylum cases). You will not have to pay a contribution towards the cost of this scheme from either your capital or income.
Family Mediation
If you are trying to resolve a dispute after a relationship has ended - for example, about children, property or money - you may wish to use a mediator to help you to resolve the dispute. This funding covers the cost of the initial meeting (called an ‘intake assessment') to assess whether Family Mediation is a suitable way of attempting to resolve the dispute. If you qualify you will get help for the mediation itself and you do not have to make any contribution towards the costs. The mediator will work out your eligibility and complete the form at the initial meeting.
Help with Mediation
This is for legal advice needed to support family mediation (for example, advice from your solicitor while you are going through the mediation process and help with making any agreement into a court order). There is usually a limit of £150 for costs if the mediation is for issues relating to the children only; £250 for financial issues only; and £350 if it is for issues relating to both. If you have already received funding for Family Mediation you will automatically qualify and you will not have to make a contribution towards the costs.
General Family Help
This is to help resolve family disputes before a case goes to court, if mediation fails or if the mediator certifies that mediation is unsuitable for you. It is available to cover the costs of your solicitor obtaining information, negotiating and trying to reach a settlement, issuing court proceedings and, if necessary, representation in court (not contested final hearings) and help with confirming any agreements with court orders. The limit to the costs is usually £1,500 and you may have to contribute towards this.
Legal Representation
This is to help take a case to court. It can cover investigation into the strength of a claim before granting Full Representation for a case to go to court (not available for family law cases), as well as Full Representation to cover the costs of the work leading up to hearings and legal representation in court. The initial work on the case is likely to have been covered under the Legal Help scheme (see page 2). This is available for family and most civil cases. The rules for qualifying and the limits to the amount of work a solicitor can do for both parts of this scheme are complicated and will depend on your case. In an emergency situation you can be granted emergency Legal Representation straight away. Your solicitor can advise you and will explain about the criteria that apply to you. You may have to repay these costs if you receive a settlement and you may also have to make contributions towards the costs of the case.
Next page: Do I have to repay any of the help I receive for legal costs?
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