Domestic Abuse - Am I eligible for Legal Aid?

Legal Aid is the provision of financial assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal Aid is payment from public funds, and only provided in cases of need.

If you have been the victim of domestic abuse and wish to obtain some advice and representation in respect of the legal remedies available to you, you may be eligible for Legal Aid, in order to assist with your legal fees.

The Legal Aid Agency will consider:

• The value of all your capital assets, including your home if it is owned by you;
• Your bank account activity for the last 3 months, for all accounts that you hold;
• If you are employed, your income for the last 3 months;
• If you are self-employed, your most recent accounts and tax returns;
• Whether you are in receipt of any benefits;
• Who lives with you and whether you are in receipt of any financial assistance from anyone else.

If you are in receipt of Income related benefits, then you are likely to have a ‘passporting benefit’, which means that you will automatically be eligible for Legal Aid.

Depending on the above, you may be eligible for either full Legal Aid to cover the full cost of your legal fees, or Legal Aid with a contribution to be paid by you, towards your fees. Failing this, if you are ineligible, you will have to pay for any legal advice or representation privately.

If you are not eligible for Legal Aid, but also do not feel that you can afford private solicitor’s fees, you can make an application to the Court for an injunction yourself, free of charge, using Form FL401, available on the .gov website. You can consider whether this application may be appropriate for you by looking at our previous article on Domestic Abuse, which includes descriptions the remedies available to you. We would, however, still suggest that you obtain legal advice on this, before doing so.

If you feel that you might need some legal advice in respect of Domestic Violence that you have either experienced, or been accused of, please give us a call at your local branch in Leicester or Loughborough or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.

Due to the sensitive nature of domestic violence related enquiries, we will