Legal Aid in Family Law Matters: Are You Eligible?
Legal representation can be expensive and the cost factor is often a deterrent to those in the community need it most. Legal Aid NSW aims to provide access to justice by offering financial assistance to people to access legal services.
If you are granted Legal Aid, this may mean that a nominated law firm can give you legal advice and represent you for your family law matter. Usually, Legal Aid NSW will pay the law firm directly, often at a reduced rate.
A firm that accepts Legal Aid work embraces a business model that gives back the community by providing legal services at a reduced rate. It is common for the Legal Aid matter to require more work than the funding will cover.
Am I eligible?
Legal Aid funding is granted to an applicant based on the following four tests:
1. The Jurisdiction Test
2. The Means Test
3. The Merits Test
4. The Availability of funds Test
1. The Jurisdiction Test
This test looks to see if your legal matter type is covered by Legal Aid funding. There are some legal cases the funding won’t cover such as medical negligence. Family law is generally a matter type which meets the Jurisdiction Test.
2. The Means Test
This test looks at your income and assets. There is a Means Test Indicator on the Legal Aid NSW website that is helpful to use to indicate whether you may be successful for applying for a grant. The Means Test is not the sole determinant of an applicant's eligibility for legal aid. Both the Applicant and any Financially Associated Person are considered and assessed during the Means Test. More information about the Means Test can be found on the Legal Aid NSW website.
3. The Merit Test
This test looks at whether your case has a reasonable prospect of success and if legal funding will benefit you. Legal Aid will review your matter and decide on these things to determine your grant of Legal Aid.
4. Availability of Funds Tests
The State and Federal Government (whichever is applicable) will determine whether sufficient funding is available to grant legal aid for your matter.
Can you tell me more about the Means Test?
The Means test will look at the following three areas:
- Income test, which is based on your income and if you may be required to contribute to part of the legal fees.
- Assets test, based on the assets such as your home and contents.
- Lifestyle test, which may include your lifestyle and general expenditure.
There are also exceptional circumstances that may allow Legal Aid NSW to make a discretionary decision to fund your matter.
How does Legal Aid NSW verify what I’ve declared in the means test?
Commonly Centrelink recipients are able to have their details verified by Centrelink. This makes the process easier as it avoids the applicant having to provide physical records of their payments and assets.
If you are not a Centrelink recipient, then you will provide evidence of your declaration such as payslips and bank statements.
How do I apply?
Applications for a grant of legal aid can be completed using the application form.
Once your application is submitted, it will be processed and you will receive SMS updates via the Grants Tracker. Usually applications take around 2 weeks for processing.
Ardent Lawyers is happy to accept family law matters under legal aid funding. If you have any questions, or would like us to assist you to complete the application form, please contact our office on (02) 4444 6808 or contact@ardentlawyers.com.au.
