Legal Aid For Divorce?

pops5588

Vicky123 wrote: »

Child contact?

Yes it was the custody part of my parents' divorce that racked up the £55,000 legal bills.

NicolaB_2

Vicky123 wrote: »

Child contact?

I don't think the OP mentioned child contact and so I didn't include that, I was referring purely to the situation between the parents re divorce.

It is not a requirement to have a contact order as part of divorce proceedings, although the parties would be asked what arrangements were in place for the children. It doesn't have to be a legally binding agreement.

If contact/residency needs to be considered/agreed formally as part of the proceedings my answer might be different - but not necessarily. Lots of parents go through contact/residency proceedings without using solicitors. There is no requirement to have legal representation and even in cases where the divorce is not amicable it is not always necessary. If the OP's daughter feels that she needs or would prefer to have a lawyer to act for her then that is absolutely her choice, my point is just that is isn't absolutely necessary, particularly when costs may be an issue.

neverdespairgirl

I have a fairly strong idea that child contact legal aid has also gone.

Vicky123

Sometimes where there is a lot of bad feeling a partner will suddenly become very interested in previously ignored children, just really going on the impression from the OP that this will not be amicable.
Would love to know more about the 55k custody battle.

neverdespairgirl

Vicky123 wrote: »

No, I realise that, just responding to the post on DIY divorce, think more people would choose them if everyone could agree, sadly that isn't always the case and when they cost they usually cost big.
Most people already know lawyers and Barristers are the winners in divorce cases but sometimes that is less important than making sure the person someone claimed to once love is totally destroyed, when legal people are involved best Barrister wins as in most cases but they all get paid.

Actual divorce cases very rarely involve barristers, and not much work for solicitors, either.

It's the financial arrangements and child contact details taht are more likely to involve lawyers.

You certainly don't get rich dong family law, on the whole, it's one of the worst paid areas of law to be involved in.

I've never done family law myself, but my pupil master did a fair bit, so I observed quite a lot. And in my experience there it involved couples at each other's throats, over the most ridiculous things.

Vicky123

I can't imagine what else other than financial and children would involve lawyers and Barristers but that must be quite a lot of work.
It's hard to see that it's poorly paid though, where do all those huge fees end up? My understanding is Barrister for a day in court in excess of 1k, that seems like quite a fair bit of money for a days work, then there will be the lawyers prep work, not cheap to most budgets and it will almost certainly end up as more than 1 day. I suppose it's all relative but when you consider every small query is an attending on client expense it really does add up to a tidy sum.
I wonder what the benefit of having lawyer and Barrister in court is though as seen this done recently.

neverdespairgirl

Vicky123 wrote: »

I can't imagine what else other than financial and children would involve lawyers and Barristers but that must be quite a lot of work.
It's hard to see that it's poorly paid though, where do all those huge fees end up? My understanding is Barrister for a day in court in excess of 1k, that seems like quite a fair bit of money for a days work, then there will be the lawyers prep work, not cheap to most budgets and it will almost certainly end up as more than 1 day. I suppose it's all relative but when you consider every small query is an attending on client expense it really does add up to a tidy sum.
I wonder what the benefit of having lawyer and Barrister in court is though as seen this done recently.

It depends on the type of law, and the amount of prep involved for the day's hearing.

But £1k is way more than the norm for a day's hearing in my area of law (immigration). I get £350 to £750, depending on the type of case and how much prep is needed.

Family law's not a high paying area, either.

RAS

Vicky

A barrister may only get a few days a month in court, for which they get the fee.

They may be booked and then the previous case over-runs and they have a completely "wasted" day.

Depending on the case they also have to prepare by reading the case, reading up on the law and maybe researching precedents.

They have to pay for the costs of their chambers and their travel costs from their fee, so it is not exactly all take home after tax and NI.

Gastines2

Thanks again for the constructive information.I have collected the required forms from our local Court Offices.I believe we will be able to deal with most things ourselves.The children being our main concern against the difficulty of a husband who lives his own expensive life ,on benefits, and is a verbal bully to put it mildly. The one thing I learnt from once looking at cases reported, from the Lawyers point of view,not me, is that you need to be aware of all the details before making judgement or opinion.
On that note I rest my case!!!

TBagpuss

DebsDD wrote: »

Maybe the rules have changed, but my partner and his wife got divorced about 5 / 6 years ago and she got legal aid. She had lost her job through drinking and was still able to get legal aid. We then went for custody of the kids and she got legal aid for that as well. She didn't even fight for custody of the boys!!

The rules have changed. the government has cut all legal aid for family cases. It's only available where there is domestic violence.

divorce Petition is here (http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/GetForm.do?court_forms_id=1115

sorting our onwy or contact issues - it may pay your daughter to see a solicitor for advice, even if she then choses not to be represented if matters go to court.