What Is Legal Aid?
Legal Aid is a Government funding system wherein certain financial support is given to individuals who are embroiled in a legal case. This was formerly administered by the Legal Aid Board, but has now been taken up by the Legal Services Commission. The correct term is Community Legal Service Fund, though Legal Aid is how it is still described by most. This is the major source of financial help for those who find it difficult to afford a divorce. To obtain this benefit one must suit the requirements laid out by the authorities concerned.
What Is Covered?
Legal Aid will cover the fees of the solicitor, and it will provide all the forms to be filled out by the client. It will also give the person concerned a chance to avail themselves of free legal and financial counselling – this will depend on the services available at the office of each region.
However, if the person concerned wins the case (and thereby gets the costs of the case refunded), or wins money or property through it, then he or she will have to return the amount to the government. However, he or she is exempted from such payment if the amount in question turns out to be less than £3,000. In other words, the concept behind Legal Aid is that the government renders a certain amount of help, which is returnable if one recovers from the misfortune. Legal Aid is to help someone ride over hard times, not to provide free aid.
Who Qualifies?
In order to qualify for obtaining Legal Aid certain criteria have to be fulfilled.
- One’s monthly income should not exceed 2000 pounds (gross).
- If the person has a house or other capital in his or her own name, valued at more than three thousand pounds, he or she will cease to receive the said help.
- If the spouses, despite the divorce have mutual amity and are sharing their earnings – and after being put together, it exceeds the amount mentioned above. Though the maximum number of divorces are with consent, this ‘amity’ is theoretical, and this clause does not really work.
- If the Aid seeker receives Income Support of Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, it makes him or her eligible for receiving Legal Aid.
- The eligibility of the claimant will depend on his or her total disposable income, that is the amount of income left after deductions have been made for tax, national insurance and deductions for any dependents. The rules will be different in case there is a physically handicapped child who will need care throughout life.
Other Help
Apart from Legal Aid (or rather, Community Legal Service Fund), there is some more help available from a few other sources. All the forms required for divorce procedures are available for free from local courts in all parts of the UK. There are valuable knowledge databases available on the met, articles by the Law Society, and some of the firms also offer free counselling on legal and financial matters, including making wills and taking care of children. Several social organizations have come forward to help with the children of divorce, and again, the net or the yellow pages could be of great help. There are support groups for single mothers, and father’s rights groups (though they can be suspiciously stunt-oriented at times) are also trying to provide assistance.
The government offers a lot of counselling services as well, online as well as over the phone. For those who file divorce due to the absence of the spouse, there is a missing person’s help line where they may register the details for one last try. The BBC also lends its support to the help line.
Sometimes, sharing one’s experiences and problems with others can be a time and money saving option in itself. And this is where blogging has made an impact. These social networks are offering a different kind of support to divorcees – and a lot of queries get answered here instead of paying the solicitor for an extra hour.
However, ultimately, it is best to take the help of a qualified solicitor or professional divorce-related web-based service, because it saves time and money overall.
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James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information about using online services to get a Divorce see http://www.quickie-divorce.com
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