Legal aid help!
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Hi, my husband is being sentenced on Thursday in magistrates court. We had a hell of a time getting the paperwork for legal aid from our solicitor thanks to postal strikes etc. We finally got the paperwork through and filled in yet they're asking for information we can't supply and we've been told we can't write unknown. I recently went self employed end of October and my husband is yet to receive his first pay from his new job (which will be after his court date) yet they want to know how much tax/national insurance we pay. Has anyone got any advice. We are struggling financially and can't afford £400 for her to represent him but also can't give them the info they need. Has anyone got any advice?
Do either of you get universal credit? We lucky get about £20 a month through it but it meant my husband managed to get legal aid
No only child tax credit and child benefit
From what I remember I don't think child tax was on it. It looks like you might have to pay for it. I looked it up on Google before and unless your out of work there's barely any chance. Hopefully you could get it if classed as low income because he hasn't been paid yet
My partner missed out on legal aid and had to pay similar amount. He did get to pay in installments however, I believe
we've now been told there isn't enough time for legal aid and if we want her to represent my husband its now £400+vat. i'm so angry, this is now the second solicitor to screw my husband over and pretty much dump him days before he appears in court. We've been running around for days trying to gather paperwork for the legal aid as we waited over week for paperwork to come through the post and it still isn't here to this date, so its unlikely it was even posted. we ended up asking for it to be e-mailed as we was worried we wouldn't have enough time. she said she could try and get the court to adjourn (think thats spelt right) so we could get legal aid done but for one it isn't garanteed and for 2 we just want it all to be done. We've been through 15 months of hell with 1 child wetting the bed as she was told by a po her daddy was going to prison and another with ptsd i'm at the brink of having a breakdown not sure I can deal with this being extended again.
Hey, we both worked full time never claimed or entitled to benefits. A week before court partner lost his job (he was still due to get a full pay at the end of the month) but he was told to sign on to UC and fill a form in with solicitor and he managed to get legal aid. Ask them again what they can do for you if you don't have the money x
I did and was basically told he would have to represent himself, which doesn't seem fair as it was their fault he didn't get paperwork in time. He can't represent himself so we've had to talk to family members to get in the money, they also said it needs paying upfront before court in full or they wouldn't represent him with the whole of 1 days notice. I'm fuming
A lot of magistrates courts have a duty solictor, who can represent you one time, for free. Maybe you could use them to get an adjournment, until the legal aid is sorted?