LEGAL ADVICE NEEDED. mum divorced 2 years ago. legal aid says she owes them money.

Bossyboots

Okay that is a bit clearer.

It was very poor that your mum was asked to sign the legal aid application without the statutory charge being explained to her. In England, the applicant has to be given two leaflets explaining how legal aid works and the rules on the SC. I cannot imagine it is any different in Scotland. The solicitor will sign the form confirming those forms have been given to the client. I don't know if Scottish lawyers have had to go through the rigorous process of contracting that is in place in England and Wales, but even if they have not, the explaining of the SC is a fundamental part of legal aid and I am sure they must be required to explain it. Unfortunately, I suspect the solicitors will falsify a letter to your mum explaining it all if they are put to proof that they told her.

It is also a major concern that the lawyer is avoid calls. The LSC will not allow this to go on forever. How they can deal with it depends on the current position with regard to their costs. If these have not been paid, they have less hold over the solicitors whereas they could take the costs back if things don't get sorted. Your mum needs to specifically ask if the solicitors have been paid and, as already said, tell them she hasn't seen a copy of the bill. If the LSC have a copy, I would expect them to send it to her. It would really help if your mum could ask what stage costing is at and whether the bills have been paid. I would hazard a guess that the LSC are chasing the solicitors for the forms confirming how they have protected the statutory charge and having not received any response, have approached your mum directly. I am not even sure their actions are appropriate but in the long run it would be better to sort things out with the LSC's help, rather than cast stones their way.

Please do find out about these payments she has made. The solicitor should not have been taking money direct from your mum, nor should she have paid the court any money while she was in receiptr of legal aid. I can't imagine this is different to England so this cannot be right. There could be serious repercussions for the firm if this is what they have done. It does occur to me though that the payment your mum was making was in fact to the LSC and was her assessed "contribution" as described by MXW. This would have been a monthly payment for the duration of the proceedings and grant of her funding certificate would not have been made unless she agreed to the payments and kept them up. It may be in this respect she has misunderstood the terminology but exactly what these payments were is very important for two reasons. One is that if these were contributions because her income or capital were over certain limits, then those contributions are deducted from the statutory charge as of course they have already been paid. The second is whether the solicitor has been taking money and then bills the LSC for the same money. Or even if the fees were paid direct to the court and the solicitor then claimed them in their bill. Not only would this mean your mum paying twice, but it would be fraud. This irregularity could be why they don't want to speak to the LSC but let's not be too hasty in that accusation just yet. Please ask your mum who she made the payments to. It would really help if she had proof of that, but if it went to the solicitor, the LSC can ask to see their ledger card which should show the payments.

Assuming your parents agreed to split the house 50/50, then your mum's share would indeed work out at 4k. There is no waiver in England anymore but if it is still on the Scottish website then we can allow for that.

Unfortunately it is not just the capital gain that is calculated, it is what your mum has preserved, unless the website said differently. Therefore, your mum has gained 4k but preserved her own 23k. Therefore, the statutory charge applies against the 27k.

Another thing your mum was entitled to, was an initial estimate and then ongoing updated estimates for the work so that she knew her potential liability. It looks like this wasn't done either.

If nothing else, she may have a claim for poor client care for which she could make a monetary compensation claim which would at least offset some of the charge. However, this doesn't help right now as the LSC have their hands tied in respect of recouping the money. I think the thing to establish at the moment is whether there are irregularities (which there are, even if it is just that she wasn't sent a copy of the bill), what those irregularities are and whether they can be used to reduce the liability. Although the LSC has no discrectionary power in respect of enforcing the charge, it is responsible for ensuring the bill submitted is correct and that the amount of the charge to be enforced is the correct amount.

thinkginge

just a bit of an update.

just been at my mums all night sorting out her paperwork and writing a letter to the legal aid board. the letter she recieved was from the treasury department and says they are investigating to see if she is liable to pay anything. so it seems they need house valuation documents to make a decision and wage slips etc.

also phoned the solicitor. She is no longer a partner at the firm and is no longer working there. this seems extremely odd. my mum spoke to another solicitor at the firm who knows nothing about my mums case, but is going to fetch all the documents from the "ironman". also she has told my mum she doesn't understand why they are contacting her either, so i am going to a meeting with them with my mum armed with lots of questions.

my mums under no illusions how this can go now.

zztopgirl

Thinkginge, please keep us updated. I had a bad lawyer when i got divorced, i didnt realise how bad things actually were until legal aid rang me oneday and told me to seek another lawyer asap. Thank goodness they had found out what was going on. It still took me 4 years to get a divorce for a 2 year separation, the new lawyer had a right job trying to unravel all the damage. I never bothered with a complaint, with hindsight i should have done so but it was so many years ago now and divorce was the only thing i wanted.

Good luck to your mum though and i really hope things get sorted out.