We have a Legal Aid contract with the Legal Aid Agency to provide Legal Aid for family matters in both public and private law. We have set out below the types of matters where you may be able to receive legal aid and when you are likely to qualify for legal if you need help in those areas.
To be entitled to Legal Aid for care proceedings or pre-proceedings, you would need to have parental responsibility for the child/ren involved. This is not means or merits tested. We will need the pre-proceedings letter or details of the care proceedings in order for you to receive legal aid.
If you need an injunction (Non-Molestation Orders and/or Occupation Orders), you must pass a means test and a merits test before you can receive Legal Aid.
The merits test must identify that you have grounds for applying for an injunction (Non-Molestation Orders and/or Occupation Orders). You will not get Legal Aid if there are bail conditions or any other orders already protecting you. We may have to write a harassment warning letter to the other person on your behalf before Legal Aid is available to obtain the above Orders.
The means test is detailed below.
To receive Legal Aid in relation to child arrangements, you will need to either be the victim of domestic abuse from the child/ren’s father or there will need to be evidence that the father has been abusive to the child/ren. You will also need to pass the means test as detailed below.
There are certain documents that you will need to produce to be able to prove that you are a victim of domestic abuse or that your child/ren are at risk of child abuse. Evidence may include, for instance, a letter from a GP or social services. This can be sent or delivered to us in Taunton. We will need one of these documents before we could help you under Legal Aid.
To receive Legal Aid in relation to divorce or separation, you will need to be the victim of domestic abuse from your husband or partner/ex-partner. You will also need to pass the means test as detailed below.
There are certain documents that you will need to produce to be able to prove that you are a victim of domestic abuse. Evidence may include, for instance, a letter from a GP or social services. This can be sent or delivered to us in Taunton. We will need one of these documents before we could help you under Legal Aid.
To receive Legal Aid in relation to finances and/or property, you will need to be the victim of domestic abuse from your husband or partner/ex-partner. You will also need to pass the means test as detailed below.
There are certain documents that you will need to produce to be able to prove that you are a victim of domestic abuse. Evidence may include, for instance, a letter from a GP or social services. This can be sent or delivered to us in Taunton. We will need one of these documents before we could help you under Legal Aid.
The means test means will depend on your capital and income position. We will need documents such as bank statements and wage slips (if relevant) in relation to your income position. We will need documents such as valuations and mortgage statements (if relevant) in relation to your capital position. We would need these documents from you before we could help you under Legal Aid. These documents can be sent or delivered to us in Taunton.
We offer hourly rate of £200 for Solicitors and £100 for Paralegals and or Trainee Solicitors. These rates are increased by 50% when we are required, by your matter or via you communicating with us, to work outside of our core office hours of 9:00 to 17:00.
We charge our hourly rates in six-minute units which are rounded up to the nearest unit as appropriate. For instance, a five-minute phone call will be rounded up to one unit, with all of our work being charged at a minimum of one unit. It is important you note that we feel we have created a competitive pricing structure and as a consequence we require clients to purchase their advice in advance, in two or more hour blocks. Any unused time will be refunded at the end of the matter or on your request. Another point to note is the fact that we will charge and invoice all of our time.
We offer the following services based on a fixed fee, which means we will not charge you more for your matter unless the work changes from the basis that we have agreed in the client care letter. The Fixed Fees we offer are:
The fixed fee includes advice during our standard office hours. If the work requires us to work outside of our office hours then we will charge you £50 per hour in addition to our fixed fee.
All clients are charged in addition to their quoted fees:
Your matter may be subject to third party payments, such as court fees, which we can organise subject to you paying money on account. We will notify you of the need for a third-party payment on account as required by your matter. Please note that we do not financially benefit from third-party payments.
We can certify documents, swear an oath or complete a statutory declaration. We do not certify identification documents except for current clients who have an active matter due to the compliance requirements. The costs for doing this are:
Please contact us to book a short appointment.
All the figures on this page, and the website, are VAT free.
We are Specialist Quality Mark Hold Contracted with the Legal Aid Agency as well as:
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