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Good Afternoon All,
I'm seeking some advice on behald of my partner, she has 2 young children, 2 different dad, one of which she sees supervised by one fo the dads (by mutual agreement with that dad), the second she hasn't seen for over 3 months due to the dad stopping contact.
This was done as the court ordered contact order expired.
I don't want to go into the specifics, but my partner has a risk assessment as of August saying she is of no risk to herself or others.
She had a local law firm representig her in proceedings over the last 3 years, this was funded by legal aid.
She is signed off of work for a further 15 months, so funding from her own pocket is non-existent.
The local law firm who've represented her said she could pay a monthly standing order amount, she said what she could afford, they said no it wasn't enough.
She's distraught, obviously as due the complexities of the case she doesn't feel she can self-rep, the only other thing i can gather is she could get legal aid under exceptional circumstances, however the local law firm won't fill out the forms without her paying for them.
Is this something she can apply for herself & what are the criteria for exceptional circumstances?
Any help is massively welcome!
Hi
I'm not aware of any special circumstances for legal aid other than where domestic violence is alleged, which obviously isn't the case here. It's worth looking at the sticky topics at the top of the legal eagle section on self representing, it can be daunting, but the courts do expect that people will be a bag of nerves, plus doing this will speed up the process.
You should defiantly try self representation ,its not that daunting and as long as your clear, have the facts laid out and are prepared with everything. There's plenty of information out there.
If you need any help with anything let me know, I've done it all right from the bottom and getting my name on the birth cert, all the way up to joint access and overnight contact.
I've represented myself in two hearings and won them both. It won't cost you a penny because you have no income. The most important thing is to prepare and submit your evidence in good timing and in the appropriate format. Look up 'court bundle' to get the right format. If you have previously been to court then copy the format that the father's solicitors used. Submit evidence to court 1 week before the hearing. Be confident but not cocky. Good luck.
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