is my friends ex entitled to legal aid?

GentleGiant_2

Hi,

A friend of mine was talking about this down the pub tonight and whilst I didn't know the answer thought I would ask here on her behalf.

As part of a divorce settlement she had to pay the ex £5,000 and give £11,000 to a relative apparently to pay off a loan.

I am wondering if this was devised by his solicitor to keep him under the legal aid threshold.

As she and her ex are still sorting out other matters in court, she feels a little peeved that he is getting help on the state when perhaps he is not entitled to it.

Of course this could be above the law, but it looks to me like a plan devised by the solicitor to keep their money rolling in.

Would be grateful of any advice I can pass on to her, as if her ex is getting away with claiming funds wrongly then he ought to be stopped.

Cheers.

cattie

Is the ex husband claiming means tested benefit? If so then the £11k paid on the loan could be considered as deprivation of capital to gain or retain means tested benefits.

However, as this was arranged as part of a divorce settlement I'm not sure if this makes the arrangement different from a straight forward arrangement of distributing money to a benefit claimant.

If she feels her ex is fiddling the system, then an annonomous call to the benefit fraud line could be made by her or somebody acting on her behalf. I'm sure somebody there would be able to ascertain whether in a divorce settlement such an arrangement was legal for a benefit claimant or not.