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None of the information on this website constitutes legal advice. Specialist legal advice should be
taken in relation to specific circumstances. The contents of this website are for general information
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warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy, and we do not accept any liability for error
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Chivers Walsh
FAMILY LAW
Information Leaflet
Changes to Legal Aid
In the past, legal aid has been available for all types of family law cases. However, as a result of cut-backs
the government has made, legal aid will not be available for most types of family law cases after 1 April
2013. In particular, legal aid will not be available (subject to a small number of exceptions) for:


applications for contact orders and residence orders (what used to be called “access” orders and
“custody” orders) about children1 (“children cases”); and
divorce (the process of dissolving the marriage and of dealing with the financial issues arising from
its breakdown) (“divorce cases”).
These changes to legal aid are very unfair and will leave many people whose relationships have broken
down in a very vulnerable position.
There are a few circumstances in which legal aid will continue to be available for children and divorce cases
(subject to the person concerned, of course, being financially eligible). In children cases, they are where the
person who wishes to apply for legal aid (“the legal aid applicant”) is, or is at risk of being, a victim of
domestic violence, or is seeking to protect a child from the risk of abuse. In divorce cases, the
circumstances are where the legal aid applicant is, or is at risk of being, a victim of domestic violence.
However, the legal aid authorities will only accept that a person (or a child) is a victim (or at risk of harm)
where that person can produce a piece of evidence to satisfy the domestic violence requirement (or to satisfy
the requirement that a child is at risk of harm).
The legal aid authorities will accept only a limited number of pieces of evidence, which are:
In cases where the legal aid applicant is a victim or at risk of being a victim of domestic violence:
1
a certificate of conviction which shows that the other party (to any potential court proceedings) has
been convicted (within the last two years) of an offence of violence against the legal aid applicant
(offences of violence are defined and are set out in the footnote below)2 or a police caution for one of
those offences;
Or for ‘prohibited steps’ orders and ‘specific issue’ orders.
A threat to kill, shooting or attempting to shoot, or wounding, with intent to do grievous bodily harm, inflicting bodily injury
with or without weapon, maliciously administering poison, so as to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm, maliciously
administering poison with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy any other, causing gunpowder to explode, or sending to any person
an explosive substance or throwing corrosive fluid on a person, with intent to do grievous bodily harm, assault occasion and actual
bodily harm, common assault, child destruction, cruelty to persons under 16, rape, procurement of a woman by threats
administering drugs to obtain or facilitate intercourse, indecent assault, procuring a miscarriage, theft, blackmail, destroying or
damaging property, threats to destroy or damage property, violence for securing entry, abduction of a child, affray, fear or
1
2
2
a letter from the police confirming that there are ongoing criminal proceedings for an offence of the
type referred to in the footnote below;
3
a family protective injunction (a personal protection order made by a court) (which has been made
within the last two years) or an “undertaking” (non-molestation promise to a court) of this type (which
has been given within the last two years);
4
a Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference Plan (made within the last two years);
5
a finding of a court (within the last two years) that there has been an incident, or a pattern of incidents,
of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between individuals who are
associated with each other and who would be the parties to the relevant potential court proceedings;
6
a letter or report from a health professional or a Social Services department confirming a report
(within the last two years) of an incident, or pattern of incidents, of controlling, coercive or threatening
behaviour, violence or abuse between individuals who are associated with each other and who would be
the parties to the relevant potential court proceedings;
7
a letter from a refuge confirming the legal aid applicant is (or has been within the last two years)
admitted to a refuge for those at risk of domestic violence.
In cases where the legal aid applicant believes there is a need to protect a child from the risk of abuse:
1
a certificate of conviction that shows that the other party (to any potential court proceedings) has a
conviction (within the last two years) for a child protection offence (see the footnote above for the
list of offences) or a police caution for one of those offences;
2
a letter from the police confirming that there are ongoing criminal proceedings for an offence of the
type referred to in the footnote above;
3
a family protective injunction (which has been made within the last two years);
4
a letter from a Social Services department confirming that the child concerned has been assessed
as being at risk or that a child protection plan is in place;
5
a letter or report from a health professional or a Social Services department confirming within
the last two years an incident, or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening
behaviour, violence or abuse between individuals who are associated with each other and who would
be the parties to the relevant court proceedings;
6
a finding of a court (within the last two years) that there has been an incident, or a pattern of
incidents, of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between individuals
who are associated with each other and who would be the parties to the relevant court proceedings;
7
a copy of an application that has been made for a family protective order, together with a copy
of an application for a prohibited steps order which is yet to be decided by the court.
provocation of violence, intentional harassment, alarm or distress, harassment harm or distress, the offence of sending letters etc.
with intent to cause distress or anxiety, intimidation of witnesses, jurors and others, breaching a non-molestation order,
harassment, stalking, putting people in fear of violence, assault by penetration, sexual assault, causing a person to engage in sexual
activity without consent, causing or inciting prostitution for gain, controlling prostitution for gain, trafficking into the UK for
sexual exploitation, trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, trafficking out of the UK for sexual exploitation,
administering a substance with intent to commit a sexual offence, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence,
trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence improper use of public electronic communications network, breach of nonmolestation order, trafficking people for exploitation, kidnapping, false imprisonment, perverting the course of public justice,
aiding, abetting counselling or procuring the commission of an indictable offence.
If your case falls within one of these exceptions to the general rule that legal aid is not available, you must
provide us with one of the pieces of evidence referred to above at our first meeting with you; we cannot
obtain the evidence for you and, if you do not let us have it at our first meeting, we shall have to make
another appointment for you at which you can produce it.
If you are unable to give us any evidence of the type referred to above, unfortunately, we will not be able to
act for you at all under the legal aid scheme in a children case or a divorce case. We can, however, act for
you on a fee-paying basis. We offer a number of fixed-price packages which we feel offer excellent value
and details of which are set out in the accompanying information leaflet.
Cases that will continue to be covered by legal aid after 1 April 2013
Legal aid will continue to be available for the following cases:



where a local authority is applying for a care order or a supervision order about a child;
applications for non-molestation orders and occupation orders (personal protection orders) and
forced marriage protection orders; and
child abduction cases.
Legal aid will also be available for “family mediation” (which is a scheme for helping those involved in
relationship breakdown to resolve by agreement and outside the court system issues arising from the
breakdown of their relationship). There are a number of mediation services in this area, including West
Yorkshire Family Mediation Service, whose phone number is (01274) 732768. If legal aid is not going to be
made available for a law firm to represent you and you are not able to pay a fee, you may like to contact
them, as they may be able to help you.
© Mark Tattersall 2013 v.2 – 25.3.13
Chivers Walsh
FAMILY LAW
Fixed-price packages
At Chivers Walsh Family Law, we offer a number of fixed-price packages, which we believe offer
exceptional value for money, particularly as they are delivered personally by a solicitor-partner in
the firm (Mark Tattersall) with over 25 years' experience. Mark is a member of Resolution, an
organisation for specialist family lawyers. He is a Resolution accredited specialist in advocacy in
financial provision cases and advocacy in children cases.
The fixed-price packages offer you specific, focused services at a highly competitive price. You
can "mix and match" packages, to suit your individual needs, if you do not necessarily wish to
receive a full service from us. For those who are particularly busy, we can usually provide the
service by phone or Skype, without the need for a meeting, although we are always happy to
meet.
Details of the packages that we offer are set out below. All of the prices include VAT. Unless
otherwise stated, under each package we require payment in full at the outset, either by bank
transfer3 or by cash.
Initial advice appointment fixed-price package - £180
When a relationship breaks down, it can be difficult to know which way to turn and what to do. This
package will provide you, in a meeting, with all of the information and advice that you need to plan
a way forward. We will give you up to an hour’s advice and will write to you following your
appointment, to confirm our advice, which will be supplemented by information leaflets (we have a
range of over 30).
Divorce fixed-price package - £781, including court fees4
We will dissolve your marriage for you, through divorce proceedings, preparing all of the divorce
papers, from the divorce “petition” (which starts the divorce proceedings) to the application for
"decree absolute", which will conclude the proceedings, provided that they are uncontested5.
This package covers simply the process of dissolving a marriage through divorce proceedings and
does not cover dealing with children or financial issues. The package is offered on the basis that
the other spouse will not defend the divorce proceedings and co-operates with them, by returning
to the court the relevant form confirming that they will not defend (and admitting their adultery, if
3
Lloyds TSB account number client account 00593894 and sort code 30-91-12. We cannot accept cheque or credit or
debit card payment.
4 Currently £385. We will need your marriage certificate (to lodge with the court, to confirm the existence of the
marriage). However, if you do not have it, we can obtain it from the register office or church for a fee payable to it
(£10), which is not included in our price.
5 It is extremely rare for divorce proceedings to be fully defended.
Statistics kept by the relevant civil service
department show that fewer than 1% of divorce petitions are fully defended, that is, go to a contested hearing.
that is the ground). It is ideal for those situations where both spouses accept that the marriage has
broken down and wish to divorce6.
We offer the same package for the dissolution of same-sex civil partnerships.
Payment method - payment is in two stages, which we ask that you make by cheque7:
1. Two cheques at the beginning; one for £340 made payable to "HMCTS”, for the court
fee that will be payable when you issue your divorce proceedings, and a second for
£240 made payable to us, for part of our fee; and
2. Two further cheques when we apply for "decree nisi"8; one for £45 made payable to
"HMCTS”, for the court fee that will be payable for decree absolute and a second for
£156 made payable to us, for the rest of our fee.
Pre-marital agreements and separation agreements fixed-price package - £600
We will prepare a pre-marital agreement or a separation agreement under this package, in cases
where the value of your assets is less than £300,000 and your gross annual income is no higher
than £50,000.
(We can deal with pre-marital and separation agreements where the value of the assets and/or
your gross annual income is greater than these figures but cannot do so within this fixed fee. We
are happy to give you an estimate of our charges on request if we cannot deal with the matter for a
fixed fee.)
6
If your divorce petition is based on your spouse’s behaviour and your spouse does not cooperate with the divorce
process, by returning to the court the “acknowledgment of service” form (in which they will confirm that they have
received their set of the divorce papers from the court), we shall have to arrange for a process server to hand
a(nother) set of the divorce papers to them and you will be responsible for the process server’s fee (which will
generally be about £60 and which is not included in our price).
7
Although you can pay by bank transfer, if you prefer, into our above-mentioned Lloyds TSB account.
8 Which is the provisional decree of divorce and which is usually applied for about 4 to 6 weeks after the divorce
papers have been lodged with the court
Children issues negotiation fixed-price package - £180
Where you and the (other) parent/carer are in dispute about an issue relating to a child or children,
we shall provide you with full advice and send a letter on your behalf to the other parent/carer, to
try to resolve the issue by agreement. We shall also explain to you how you can proceed if matters
are not resolved by our letter and whether, for example, you should make a court application. This
package is available to grandparents (as are the packages set out below).
Children issues court application fixed-price package - £380, including court fee 9
We will prepare court papers for you and issue them through the court and serve the other party to
the court proceedings by post.
Children issues court representation fixed-price package - £240
We will represent you at the first hearing of your application before the judge or magistrate(s).
Some cases resolve themselves at this stage. If, however, your case does not, we can represent
you at subsequent hearings, if you would like us to, at an hourly rate of £198.
© Mark Tattersall 2013 v.3 – 28.3.13
9
Currently £200