Part 2
‘We are getting a divorce. Two children, 2 and 4. My Husband left a few months ago now and I have started the divorce myself. I am a stay-at-home Mum. My Husband has a good salary. I am really worried about how we are going to manage financially. I can’t afford a solicitor privately because he is only paying basic child maintenance, and I don’t qualify for legal aid.’
Legal Services Orders
These came about in 2013 given the demise of the availability of legal aid funded by the state. Only in narrow circumstances are people eligible now.
Because you cannot meet your legal fees, it is not fair that you should be placed at a disadvantage in any out of court negotiations or, as a last resort, court proceedings and therefore funding ought to be sought for you to be legally represented. We can work out a typical monthly allowance that you would need for us to run your case smoothly without interruptions due to your inability to pay through no fault of your own.
We then ultimately apply to the court but only if he does not volunteer or agree to pay on enquiry), for your husband to pay you a monthly amount to cover your own legal expenses and the court determines whether he can pay this. To assist them, the court applies the following existing legal principles.
Statute (s22ZB Matrimonial Causes Act 1973)
- The point here is, that if you did not get financial help from your husband, you could not get legal representation.
- That is because you cannot get a decent commercial loan to pay for it or you cannot borrow against any property.
- The law needs to look at all resources available to both of you and your respective existing financial responsibilities before it considers what, if any, would be deemed a reasonable amount to contribute to your legal costs.
- Have you tried to sort this out before getting to court, to reduce the cost, only to get nowhere?
- What is the nature of the case that you plead? Is it speculative? Or is it reasonable enough that without help you would be at a disadvantage to your Husband’s claims, whether his are unreasonable or he is legally represented?
There are lots of examples of how the law deals with individual circumstances that are referred to by us initially, and if that doesn’t work, by the court using these legal principles and of course, each case is different. No family is the same.
We must concentrate on your circumstances and, again, plead your case for you, using these criteria, as best we can. If the law needs to look deeper, then let it. We’ll answer for you. After all, when you look at the criteria, the law only applies common sense to what is deemed to be fair and reasonable.
For a free initial half-hour discussion with one of our experts, do not hesitate to contact us here in the family department.