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What are we each entitled to in our divorce settlement?
What does the law say about how to split the house, how to share pensions and other assets, and how much maintenance is payable.
What steps can we take to reach a fair agreement?
The four basic steps to reaching an agreement on divorce finances are: disclosure, getting advice, negotiating and implementing a Consent Order.
What is a Consent Order and why do we need one?
A Consent Order is a legally binding document that finalises a divorcing couple's agreement on property, pensions and other assets.
Changes to Free Legal Advice Family Law July 2010
28 Jul 10 #216605 by Doesntmakesense
Topic started by Doesntmakesense
[
This is to raise awareness of what is happening at the moment with public funding....[/b]
People on low incomes or in receipt of certain benefits may be entitled to free legal advice.
However the Legal Services Commission who are responsible for the pot of money have asked firms to put in a tender for family work. This has been an ongoing process for some time and the results are in the process of being released.
There are many firms who have not got a contract to do family work in the future.
In North East where I am based it seems only 6 firms in each "area" have a contract.
This means the poorest clients who need help will be forced to travel to find a firm who have a contract - this may be up the street or in the next town or city!
In complex cases (for example care cases) there could easily be more than 6 parties. Bearing in mind a firm can only take someone as a client if there is no conflict ie if they have worked for one of the other parties before.
This is serious stuff with huge implications and has not been publicised at all!
Firms are submitting appeals at the moment but everything is uncertain. Many firms will be forced to close family departments and support staff will also lose their jobs. But this is not about the lawyers, there are some good and some bad and legal aid lawyers are not the fat cats who earn a fortune. Fair enough for the LSC to impose some type of criteria but what about the clients that are supposed to be receiving help? It often takes a great deal of courage to approach a solicitor to talk about personal things such as a relationship so how many people will just not bother if they have to mess around to find and travel to a solicitor. That is not justice!
So if you know somebody or if you are someone who has been considering legal advice and think you may be eligible for free or reduced cost work then act quickly or your choice of firm may be severely restricted!!
Thank you for taking the time to read and if it helps one person then my little rant was worth it!
This is to raise awareness of what is happening at the moment with public funding....[/b]
People on low incomes or in receipt of certain benefits may be entitled to free legal advice.
However the Legal Services Commission who are responsible for the pot of money have asked firms to put in a tender for family work. This has been an ongoing process for some time and the results are in the process of being released.
There are many firms who have not got a contract to do family work in the future.
In North East where I am based it seems only 6 firms in each "area" have a contract.
This means the poorest clients who need help will be forced to travel to find a firm who have a contract - this may be up the street or in the next town or city!
In complex cases (for example care cases) there could easily be more than 6 parties. Bearing in mind a firm can only take someone as a client if there is no conflict ie if they have worked for one of the other parties before.
This is serious stuff with huge implications and has not been publicised at all!
Firms are submitting appeals at the moment but everything is uncertain. Many firms will be forced to close family departments and support staff will also lose their jobs. But this is not about the lawyers, there are some good and some bad and legal aid lawyers are not the fat cats who earn a fortune. Fair enough for the LSC to impose some type of criteria but what about the clients that are supposed to be receiving help? It often takes a great deal of courage to approach a solicitor to talk about personal things such as a relationship so how many people will just not bother if they have to mess around to find and travel to a solicitor. That is not justice!
So if you know somebody or if you are someone who has been considering legal advice and think you may be eligible for free or reduced cost work then act quickly or your choice of firm may be severely restricted!!
Thank you for taking the time to read and if it helps one person then my little rant was worth it!
Moderators: wikivorce team, rubytuesday, dukey, hadenoughnow, Tets, Shezi, Linda Sheridan, Forseti, Mitchum, WhiteRose, Lostboy67, WYSPECIAL, Bubblegum11
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