Legal Aid
Legal Aid was once widely available to those with limited financial means who were facing family law court proceedings.
Sadly, this is no longer the case. Legal Aid is only available in certain types of proceedings now and even then you must satisfy a merits and a means test.
The merit test – does my case have sufficient merit? We will look at whether your case is one which is covered by the guidelines and whether it has sufficient substance to merit Legal Aid.
Generally, Legal Aid is now only available where you can provide evidence of domestic abuse or evidence that social services deem the other party to be a risk to you or the children.
Even if you satisfy the merit test, you then have to satisfy the financial means test.
The means test – this looks at your income and capital and we can look to see whether you qualify for Legal Aid by completing the Legal Aid Agency eligibility assessment.
We will consider each client’s eligibility for Legal Aid via an initial consultation.
In the event that Legal Aid is not available to you and you have to meet your legal fees privately we can confirm the hourly rates of our team are as follows:
• Jane Swancott - Senior Solicitor/ Managing Director - £215 per hour
• Alisha Rait - Senior Solicitor - £195 per hour
• Sophie Moule - Solicitor - £150 per hour
All our private fees are exclusive of VAT at 20%
In certain circumstances, fixed fees will be considered and we can tailor make our services to meet your individual needs and your financial situation.
