Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Legal aid definition

What does Legal aid mean? Publicly funded legal services providing free or subsidised legal advice, assistance and representation to eligible people in civil and criminal matters. The term is used in practice for statutory funding schemes rather than a single legal definition. In England and Wales, civil and criminal legal aid is governed by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 and administered by the Legal Aid Agency; civil scope is limited, with Exceptional Case Funding available. Scotland’s regime is under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986, administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, including advice and assistance, Assistance by Way of Representation...

Family legal aid in England and Wales: duty to advise, costs protection, translation costs, and costs orders against the Lord Chancellor

Published by a LexisNexis Family expert

Practice notes

Failure to advise on legal aid eligibility may amount to negligence, even where a firm does not carry out legal aid work, and a client’s potential eligibility for legal aid must be considered at the outset of the case

In David Truex Solicitor (a firm) v Kitchin, the court, addressing costs, found the client had not been informed about the availability of legal aid at the earliest opportunity and underlined that solicitors must assess eligibility from the start. The client was entitled to recover all sums paid to the solicitors, save for a small amount for the initial conference. See Practice Note: Taking initial instructions from family clients.

Practitioners must take into account their client’s attributes, needs and circumstances. For additional guidance, see Practice Note: The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) regime for family lawyers.

As a consequence of the reforms introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPOA 2012), legal aid in family matters is now available only in very limited situations, chiefly:

where there is domestic abuse (with limitations); and
in public children cases (again, with limitations)...

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David Salter

David Salter has enjoyed a varied career in family law with over 45 years’ experience. He served as National Head of Family Law at Addleshaw Goddard and, subsequently, as Joint National Head of Family Law at Mills & Reeve, retiring in 2018.From 1997-1999, David was Chairman of Resolution, also acting as the first Chairman of Resolution’s Accreditation Committee. He subsequently became President of the International Academy of Family Lawyers from 2010 to 2012, having previously served as the Academy's European Chapter President.He has sat in various part-time judicial posts since 1985 sitting regularly as a deputy High Court judge and Recorder in the Family Court until March 2022. He now conducts private financial dispute resolution appointments.David was one of the original members of the Family Procedure Rules Committee which framed the 2010 Rules, serving a ten-year term from 2004 to 2014.He is a...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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