Contents

1. Overview
2. What you can get legal aid for
3. Financial eligibility
4. How to apply
5. Funding for exceptional cases
6. Domestic abuse
7. Legal problems abroad

How to apply

You don’t apply for legal aid yourself. Your solicitor, legal adviser or family mediator applies on your behalf. If you qualify, the government pays their costs direct.

If you need help urgently

ou can get emergency help if you need representation in court straight away, for example to keep you and your children safe from domestic abuse.

Your adviser will apply for Emergency Legal Representation, which covers the immediate action only. For any work that follows, you still need to apply for legal aid in the usual way.

If you’ve been arrested

If you’re being held at a police station, the custody officer will help you get legal aid. The advice is free, and you can get it:

• over the phone, for less serious offences
• from the station’s duty solicitor
• from your own legal adviser, if you already have one

Criminal cases

A police custody officer will help you get legal aid if you’ve been arrested and held at a police station. You’ll be offered free advice:

• by telephone (if the offence is less serious)
• from the police station’s duty solicitor
• from your own legal adviser

If you’re charged or go to court

A solicitor will check if you qualify for legal aid if you’re charged with a crime or have to go to court. You can then:

• get advice from the same organisation that helped you at the police station
• ask to speak to the court duty solicitor

If you’re charged or have to go to court

A solicitor will check whether you qualify. From there you can either stay with the firm that advised you at the police station, or ask to speak to the duty solicitor at court.

What to take to your adviser

Bring details for both you and your partner covering:

• benefits, including your benefits statements
• income, savings and spending, with pay slips and bank statements
• National Insurance numbers

Bring copies of anything connected to your case as well:

• court documents
• marriage and birth certificates, for family matters
• any relevant letters

If your financial circumstances change at any stage, tell your adviser.