Legal Aid

Legal Aid, also known as public funding, can help meet the costs of legal advice, help and representation in criminal or civil matters.  It ensures that individuals, regardless of their financial situation, have access to advice or representation from a solicitor or barrister.

Legal aid is not available in all legal matters.  Whether you'll get legal aid depends on the type of case and your financial situation.  You'll usually need to show that:

• Your case is eligible for legal aid
• You cannot afford to pay for legal costs – the 'means' test.
• The problem is serious – the 'merits' test

Eligibility for legal aid is determined on your income (including benefits), family circumstances (such as number of children), living costs (such as mortgage or rent) and amount of savings or capital.  You can check if you are eligible with the government legal aid calculator (Family).

To check if you are eligible for legal aid in Criminal matters please contact us and one of our Solicitors will be able to advise you.

If you receive particular benefits, they act as a 'passport' through the income means test, automatically qualifying you for legal aid, subject to the capital limits.  Passporting benefits are: Universal Credit, Income support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit and Income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

Certain cases attract automatic legal aid without having to pass the means and merits test.  These include:

• Suspects under arrest at a police station
• Care and children proceedings issued by the local authority
• Certain child abduction cases
• International maintenance claims and enforcement under 2007 Hague Convention

Sometimes, if you win a case funded by legal aid, such as financial proceedings following a divorce, you must pay back some or all of the cost.  This is called the Statutory Charge, and we will advise you if it applies to your case.