Divorce and legal aid.

TIGs

Me and my husband have been seperated for 4 years and i was thinking it was about time we got divorced.

I work part time and claim tax credits but have been told i would be able to claim legal aid for the divorce. Does anyone know if this is true??? i can't see how i would be able to afford it otherwise.

Also i own my house not out right still got a mortgage on it, would this be taken into account when claiming for legal aid???

Thanks

aimex

Hi,

You are automatically entitled to legal aid if on income support, but this does not seem to be the case here - so the criteria is a financial criteria - you will be entitled to legal aid if you earn less than £x per month, i forget now off the top of my head what this is.

There is something called the statutory charge which is the Legal Services Comission's way of claiming back some or all of the money they have paid to the solicitor - they do this by claiming back costs awarded to you by the other side (which is now rare), and then by any property recovered or preserved - which means if you are awarded any payments eg lump sum, the lsc may take this as payment for the services. It is unlikely youre home will be affected at this stage, as it is being used as a home, but you should be aware that it is possible that a charge may be attached to it so that the lsc can recoup their funds in the future.

HTH

I'mcomingbackasaman

Forget the solicitor, why pay him for something you can do yourself. If I were you I'd go to my local County Court where they have leaflets on 'how to get a divorce' you can collect the forms from there as well. You have to pay to submit it to Court (£120 ish). Easy to do as long as your both amicable to the divorce going ahead.

You can claim Legal Aid if you earn under £15,000 last I heard so if you have to go through a solicitor you shouldn't have to pay, houseowner or not. You can always get some 'free advice' from one if your unsure about something.

aimex

divorces can be complicated though - especially where there are assets involved - i would always seek the help of a solicitor just to ensure you know what youre doing. why dont you phone some of your local solicitors and ask if they provide a pro bono half hour free interview - that way you can clear up whether you are entitled to legal aid etc and it will puut your mind at rest.

Bossyboots

My job involves doing legal aid calculations every day to assess whether people are eligible.

You can in fact be earning £2,350 a month and be entitled to legal aid. Over that amount you are automatically disqualified. Against your income is set your mortgage/rent payments. You get an allowance for each child you have. Your property is taken into account with generous allowances for mortgage value but this is capped and a lot of people are failing on this issue as their share of the equity after the allowances takes them over the savings limit. You can also qualify but have to pay a monthly contribution (although this does not apply for the actual divorce).

It is true about the statutory charge. You will have to pay your own costs if you have legal aid for ancillary proceedings but the hourly rate you are charged is much lower than paying private rates and it can be charged against your property, whereas you will have to settle up immediately paying privately.

After having been separated for four years already, it would seem sensible to wait another year and then use the 5 year separation as your suporting grounds for the divorce. This cannot be defended and I agree that the actual divorce part of it is simple enough to do yourself. You can download all the instructions and forms from the The Court Service website.

If you want me to do a calculation for you, I will need your gross income per month, tax and NI paid each month, details of how many children you have and their ages, the amount of your tax credits, child benefit and any other income you receive, the value of your property, the amount of your mortgage, the amount you pay for your mortgage each month. You can PM the details if you wish.

Veedubya

Bossyboots wrote:

If you want me to do a calculation for you, I will need your gross income per month, tax and NI paid each month, details of how many children you have and their ages, the amount of your tax credits, child benefit and any other income you receive, the value of your property, the amount of your mortgage, the amount you pay for your mortgage each month. You can PM the details if you wish.

Sometimes I am amazed how helpful some people are. Renews your faith in humanity for a few seconds (until the next time you watch the news).

Well done.
V

TIGs

Thanks bossyboots will collect all the info together and pm it to you later. Its really kind of you to offer your help the thanks button doesn't seem enough.
:beer: :beer: :beer:

mookiandco

try http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/civil/calc/whatis_calculator.asp

its the eligibility calculator for legal aid.

Prudent

Veedubya wrote:

Sometimes I am amazed how helpful some people are. Renews your faith in humanity for a few seconds (until the next time you watch the news).

Well done.
V

Bossyboots is unstintingly generous with her advice and time. I agree, she gives you faith in humanity.

Softstuff

I just finished doing my divorce myself, on the grounds of 2 years separation. If it is the case that you're not entitled to legal aid, and if your finances, well the division of them, is settled, then I'd really recommend this. I found the staff at the courts so helpful it really was a breeze, and I think it's made out to be far more complicated than it actually is.

Bossyboots

Softstuff wrote:

I just finished doing my divorce myself, on the grounds of 2 years separation. If it is the case that you're not entitled to legal aid, and if your finances, well the division of them, is settled, then I'd really recommend this. I found the staff at the courts so helpful it really was a breeze, and I think it's made out to be far more complicated than it actually is.

I would agree with this, it seems far more daunting that it really is. I would not recommend doing the finances without legal advice as this has to be spot on to avoid future problems but the actual divorce itself is not difficult to do. The golden rule to remember is that you should not remarry before sorting out the finances, or at the very least starting the court process for ancillary relief.