Legal Aid

We are contracted with the Legal Aid Agency which means we are able to offer legal aid to those that qualify it in certain cases:

Public Law Children Cases

Public Law children cases are proceedings where the Local Authority / Social Services have applied to the Court.

If you a biological parent to the child involved in the case or you hold parental responsibility for a child by virtue of an order (Child Arrangements Order, Parental Responsibility Order, Special Guardianship Order or Adoption Order) or by a Parental Responsibility Agreement, you are automatically entitled to legal aid where the Local Authority / Social Services have applied for the following orders:

• Emergency Protection Orders;
• Care Order ;
• Supervision Order;
• Adoption Proceedings where the case is brought by the Local Authority.

If you are not the biological parent, or hold parental responsibility, or a different order has been applied for by the Local Authority / Social Services (Adoption Orders, revocation of Placement Orders, Recovery Orders and Deprivation of Liberty Order); you may be entitled to Legal Aid but this will depend upon your means and the merits of your case.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss or clarify anything further in relation to legal aid.

Private Law Children Cases

You may be entitled to Legal Aid but this will depend upon your means and the merits of your case. Additionally the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 [LASPO] sets out further criteria that you must satisfy in order to obtain legal aid. Please contact us if you wish to discuss or clarify anything further in relation to legal aid.

Domestic Abuse and Forced Marriage Protection

If you are the victim of domestic abuse or a forced marriage then you will be entitled to legal aid. The eligibility criteria for this type of legal aid differs from Public and Private Law legal aid so please contact us if you wish to discuss or clarify anything further in relation to legal aid.

Other Legal Aid

If you are not in court proceedings you can still obtain legal aid for advice in family cases.

If you have received a “Letter Before Proceedings” from a Local Authority / Social Services then you will automatically be entitled to Legal Aid

For all other areas of Family Law advice outside of court proceedings – please get in touch to discuss your eligibility further as this will depend upon the type of case.

Private Paying

We aim to make funding your Family Law legal advice as straight forward as possible. No two cases are ever the same; we offer flexibility in obtaining advice which is bespoke for you. We can provide a number of funding options depending on the level of advice you require and your budget including:

• Fixed fee initial consultation;
  Where legal proceedings have not yet started, we can offer an initial meeting to have discussions about your case and plan how you wish to move forward; following the meeting we can confirm any advice in writing for you. We offer an initial meeting for £125 inclusive of VAT. If you then wish to continue instructing us we can set out an estimate of costs and the basis upon which you will be instructing us.
• Hourly rate private fee scheme;
  We will endeavour to provide an estimate of costs for the work we need to undertake on your behalf. Hourly rates will vary depending upon the experience of the lawyer that you choose to instruct at GT Stewart. During the course of your case we will provide you with updates at agreed intervals (minimum of one month) to assist you in keeping track of the costs you are having to spend.
• Staged payments;
  Depending upon the case and your financial situation we may be in a position to agree staged payments in order to assist you in being able to afford your legal costs
• Unbundled Legal Services;
  Some clients like to undertake work on their own case, so this option allows you to separate out different aspects and stages of your legal proceedings. This option is particularly useful for those that have a strict budget or where people might otherwise have to represent themselves throughout proceedings without access to legal advice if this option was not available. We ask that you consult with us about your circumstances before deciding to embark upon this option.