Last week the BBC’s Panorama investigated the issue of so called “DIY Justice” in family law. This refers to the situation many parents now find themselves in whereby if they wish to make an application to the family courts they have to do so without the assistance of a solicitor. This problem has been made much worse due to changes to the legal aid system introduced two years ago which made it much more difficult for people to secure legal aid.
The rules that are now in place mean that most people will not be entitled to legal aid to deal with a family matter regardless of their financial circumstances. To obtain legal aid now you must either be involved with social services who are considering removing your children from your care or you have to be able to prove that you have been a victim of domestic abuse. In order to prove this you must provide some evidence from a very specific list within a certain timescale.
What we have found since these changes have come in is that most people are not getting legal aid and even those who are clearly victims of domestic abuse sometimes cant get help because they have not been able to provide the correct piece of paper.
We have considered how we can still help those who may not be able to fund their case in the traditional way and have come up with a comprehensive set of fixed fees which allows clients to pick and choose what services to purchase from us and what parts of the case to handle themselves. Clients are often pleasantly surprised at the fees we charge and have found it reassuring to know that there are no nasty bills on their way at the conclusion of a case.
For more information about how we might be able to help you please call us on 0161 429 7251 or email us at [email protected].
