anyone know more about legal aid

chesca05

i dont know if im posting in the right forum, but i need some help!
me and my partner split about 2 years ago and i had to leave the house that we jointly owned. we broke up on a bad note and i have been fighting through my solicitor for money from the house, i am currently on benefits so am receiving legal aid. My ex made an offer of £8000 which my solicitors reckons is the max im going to get but because i will be recieving money from the work that shes doing this means il have to pay her back (dont know if its all or just some) but she estimates my fees to come to £2500 therefor il only recieve £5500.
My ex and myself are now back on speaking terms and after me telling him about how much il have to repay he suggested that he ring my solicitors to withdraw his offer and say he will not give me any money and then when i speak to my solicitor i say that i do not want to take it any further and just want to sign the house over ot him and then he will pay me £8000 in cash without the solicitor knowing. he thinks then that because i have not gained anything from the work they have done they cannot charge me for their services-is this correct?
i know its a bit dishonest but solicitors charge extortionate fees and some of the things that she says shes been doing for me i dont think she has (like contacting my ex) but i could do with as much money as i can get to get myself set up again. please help!

lynzpower

I dont know whether this is best placed for the relatioships board really, theres LAODS of advice on there re: splits and what happens to the house.

Im sure the soicitors must charge SOMETHING to someone somewhere in all this if they have been working for 2 yeaers ( regardless of wahts actually been achieved of course )

cattie

Really you need this to be sorted out legally as you don't know if you & your partner fall out again if he will do the dirty & refuse to pay you any money. Then you are back to square one. You certainly shouldn't be signing the house over to him without any legal agreement in place for your share.

Bossyboots

chesca05 wrote:

i dont know if im posting in the right forum, but i need some help!
me and my partner split about 2 years ago and i had to leave the house that we jointly owned. we broke up on a bad note and i have been fighting through my solicitor for money from the house, i am currently on benefits so am receiving legal aid. My ex made an offer of £8000 which my solicitors reckons is the max im going to get but because i will be recieving money from the work that shes doing this means il have to pay her back (dont know if its all or just some) but she estimates my fees to come to £2500 therefor il only recieve £5500.
My ex and myself are now back on speaking terms and after me telling him about how much il have to repay he suggested that he ring my solicitors to withdraw his offer and say he will not give me any money and then when i speak to my solicitor i say that i do not want to take it any further and just want to sign the house over ot him and then he will pay me £8000 in cash without the solicitor knowing. he thinks then that because i have not gained anything from the work they have done they cannot charge me for their services-is this correct?
i know its a bit dishonest but solicitors charge extortionate fees and some of the things that she says shes been doing for me i dont think she has (like contacting my ex) but i could do with as much money as i can get to get myself set up again. please help!

What you are contemplating is fraud and despite legal aid being my speciality, I am discinclined to help you. You should have been made aware of the statutory charge at the start of the proceedings and you will have signed a form to this effect. You would be daft to trust your partner to do as he says. Do either of you know how to lodge a consent order with the court and what to do once it is sealed?

The legal aid system is in crisis and people cheating the fund of money to which it would be entitled are excabating the problem. It is not the solicitor who you are cheating out of money, but the tax payer. The solicitor will get paid anyway.

As for extortionate fees, on legal aid your solicitor's firm will be getting 1/3 or less of its fee for privately paying clients. Out of these fees come everyone's wages and overheads. There has been no increase in legal aid payments to law firms for years. In real terms, every year legal aid firms take a pay cut because the cost of living goes up and their fees do not. The reason for this is people draining the fund.

Your solicitor has a duty to the legal aid fund as well as to the client. I hope that if you choose to go down the route of withdrawing from your legal advisor (a move which I would strongly advise against as your ex could do the dirty on you) that she notifies the legal aid authorities that you may be doing a deal with your ex and receiving money. What you signed up to was a clause that states "if as a result of the proceedings for which public funding is granted you receive or protect assets, the statutory charge will fall to be applied". This means that you are liable for the costs of your solicitor whether she is acting for you at the time you settle with your ex or not. The Legal Services Commission are becoming robust on recovering statutory charge moneys. Do you want to risk them suing you which will add interest and court fees to what you owe?

mr.broderick

Lets be honest FEES are extortionate...