Legal Aid in Scotland

sammcg

After 5 years of hell, my divorce looks as if it is complete... now my ex is going to buy me out of the marital home. My solicitor has told me that I have to pay back Legal Aid.. .

Anyone know exactly how this works for paying back?

kayl

When you sign the legal aid application, part of it says that you agree that if any money is recovered as a result of the action that your solicitors fees ( at legal aid rates) will be deducted from that money - your solicitors should bave warned you of that in their Terms of Business letter. They should have a fairly accurate idea of how much the fees will be, and would just hold back sufficient money to pay this when the money comes through from your ex

WestonDave

In principle (certainly in England - worth checking if there are any Scottish peculiarities) in any Legal Aid case, if you make a financial gain or recovery as a result of the case (and your ex buying you out of the house would count) then the costs of the case come out of this money before you get it. If you had simply gained the house then a charge (bit like a mortgage) would have been placed on it so that when you sold it later the money would then be recovered by the LSC. I'm not sure these days whether in your circumstances you can delay payment if you use the funds from your ex to purchase another house - worth checking although in some senses its only delaying the inevitable.