Does the Legal System let those that cannot afford a Solicitor down?

Legal Aid has changed recently, however not everyone is entitled to it for legal representation purposes if they own a home, either on their own of co-own. Many women who have wanted to leave an abusive relationship have been put at a disadvantage.

The old rules stated that only £100,000 of a mortgage can now be considered when calculating the interest on the property. This can therefore falsely exaggerate the equity in a home by about £180,000, the applicant would therefore be denied Legal Aid, as there is a £100,000 cap. Even though they were moving from an abusive relationship, the legal aid legislation would treat the applicant as having disposable capital which simply did not exist and taking the applicant £8,000 over cap limit.

The £100,000 cap was introduced following a conference in 1994 and has never been changed.; even though on average the house prices have shot up. This means that the average homeowner is excluded from legal aid even if they are in an abusive relationship.

This forces many women to stay in an abusive relationship, or face the prospects of representing themselves, which is a daunting prospect if you are not aware of the family court procedure.

In my legal aid posts I will explain the process of making an application to family court right through to the hearing. Hopefully some of you will be able to navigate through the court system and represent yourself.

https://publiclawproject.org.uk/latest/more-domestic-violence-survivors-to-access-legal-aid/